Summer Snow
by AutreD
Summary: A story revolving around a hired mercenary named Owl, sent by Cinder to infiltrate Beacon Academy. Owl however, finds his agendas in conflict once he begins to develop romantic feelings for a woman named Yang Xiao Long. Now he must decide which is more important: the mission or Yang. AU that follows the main story's arc starting from Volume 1
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The air here in Vale is still, no clouds hovered over the broken moon, and one can barely hear the whispers of the people walking down the streets. In other words, it's the worst night to pull of a robbery. Which makes me wonder why one of my "associates" chose this night in particular to hijack Dust till Dawn, one of the most popular Dust shop in downtown Vale.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

I protested while I knelt down on top of the building overlooking the dust shop, a couple of hundred yards away. No one responded at first, but as soon as I heard the sound of high heel shoes clanging against concrete rooftop, I was able to confirm my suspicions that I was being watched.

"So you knew I was here the whole time? Maybe you are who the rumors say you are. I admit, Torchwick might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but his influence and manpower is essential to our plans."

Her voice was low and smooth, just like her footsteps. There are very few people in this world who know how to move their lips to both the tune of confidence and intimidation without ever being in danger of sounding childish and arrogant, it's a very thin line after all, and she was definitely one of them.

"Hmph. _Your_ plans, not mine, I'm only here for the part you pay me for. Not after whatever your endgame is."

I stood up, slowly tilting my head back and gave her a glance that convinced her that I can see still see her, even when half her body was hidden in the shadows. She smirked back at me and returned my gaze with her own terrifying amber eyes.

"And that's your problem, _OWL_, you need to dream bigger." She paused and glared at my outfit from head to toe. "OWL huh? That's a strange stage name you got there. You certainly look the part though."

I grabbed hold of my metallic owl mask, slowly running my fingers through the contours and it's many scratches.

"It's practical. I can see farther and better at night." As soon as I said that, the blue feathers attached to the top side of the mask lit up, and Torchwick's voice became clear as if as though I was right next to him. 'hand over the dust' he says. Typical.

"And the robe?"

Unimpressed, the woman behind me crossed her arms and pointed at my tattered knee length white robe.

"Style... and practicality."

I immediately turned around, hopped off the rooftop's ledge. As soon as the air pushed my robe back, it instantly spread wide open like wings. I quickly glided across the sky, passing by buildings, and dodging lamp posts along the way till I was only a few feet of the ground. I tucked my knees close to my chest and rolled to the alley nearest to the dust shop as I fell to the ground.

"Gah!"

I leaned myself against the wall, hiding the rest of my body in the shadows, while I squinted my eyes, allowing my owl mask to zoom in on one of Torchwick's henchman being thrown across the street. The still and quiet night was now flooded with the noise of gunshots, and blades clashing. I know it won't be long before the cops arrived here.

"Damn Roman. I told him this wasn't going to be an easy hit. Dusk till Dawn is one of the most famous shops here in Vale, of course hunters and huntresses are on the prowl-"

I placed my hand on the hilt of my katana, about ready to pull it out and extract Torchwick before he makes a bigger mess, but the sight of a red blur and a stream of red petals stopped me in my tracks. Even more captivating was that a child in a red robe was so effortlessly and gracefully swinging a scythe, almost as tall her body, and making quick work of Roman and his band of imbeciles.

Sirens began to echo from the distance, and Roman began to make his escape. He launched an exploding bullet from his cane, distracting the girl in red. I slowly stepped out of the shadows and quickly pointed to a ladder leading to a rooftop where the rest of our crew is set to extract him. Roman smirked and nodded, as he ran as fast as he can, but the girl in red was persistent. Soon, the two fought for control on top of the building before an aircraft finally arrived to pick him up, but before they could escape, a blonde huntress, holding a riding crop on her right hand, fell from the sky.

I placed my hand over my ear, initiating a radio connection with my female associate.

"Code Red. You have a huntress up your ass. Want me to take care of it?"

I was fully expecting a snarky remark, but to my surprise, her voice as calm and cool just like our little talk mere moments ago, as if our conversation was never cut off in the first place.

"No. I got it. Head to the rendezvous point immediately."

The rendezvous point was 15 minutes away, and judging from the confidence in her voice, I knew that the huntress would be nothing more than a minor speed bump, so I left. Had I been wrong, then all I ever got out of all of this was time that I'm never going to get back regardless.

HAD I been wrong.

I arrived at the abandoned docks right at the edge of town just as the ship landed. The doors on the side slowly opened and Roman impatiently walked out before the ramp had the chance to fully extended.

"How in the world did such as simple job blow up just like that!? First it was that little red, then a huntress!? Everything that could have gone wrong tonight had gone wrong!"

His complaints reeks of stupidity. I moved a couple of inches right in front of his face. I stared deep into his eyes through mask and raised my finger up to his eyebrows.

"I told you Torchwick. This wasn't gonna work out."

Roman gritted his teeth, and furrowed his brows, it was clear that he had little intention of holding his anger back. He then took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Oh forgive me, I'm not the kind of man who spends hours upon hours, perched on top of rooftops, wasting opportunities left and right. NO! 'OWL' I am a man of action! NEO!"

I jumped back, sensing something falling from the sky, and sure enough, all I hear is the distinct sound of a blade hitting the ground. I look up, and was greeted with the sight of a woman whose hair was half pink on the left and brown on the right, the same color as her fierce and glaring eyes. Neo stood proudly beside Roman while she pointed her pink umbrella straight at my face, taunting me, no, challenging me to duel is a better way to put it, but before I could pull out my blade, my associate's voice broke the tension between the three of us.

"Now, now. We had a small hiccup today, but we were still able to gather all the dust we needed. Everyone put your weapons down and let's talk about this peacefully..." She grinned at me and Roman both as she walked out of the aircraft gracefully. "...shall we?"

Roman hesitated to calm himself down, but he tried to speak in his usual classy and sarcastic tone, though you can easily sense the anger in his voice.

"Why of course. Neo..." He glanced at his bodyguard for a quick second and tilted his head to the side, urging her to walk away. The girl named Neo, complied obediently.

With Roman somewhat calmed down, she shifted her piercing gaze towards me and raised her head like a curious cat.

"Now, I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Cinder. Cinder Fall. And you are?"


	2. Chapter 1

**BIRDS OF A FEATHER...**

It's been three days since Roman's heist failed, and I've been spending those days cleaning up the tracks he left behind, throwing the police's scent off course. It's also been three days since my employer- or rather, employers have spoken to me. I imagine they'd be panicking by now, not being able to talk to me at all but… they don't seem too hung up about it.

"It's not the fanciest of places, but for our operations, it'll do. I hope of that's alright with you Cinder?"

Roman bowed sarcastically. He lifted his hat up and looked at Cinder with a smug look to which she barely paid any attention too. She carefully scanned her surroundings, calmly examining every inch of the warehouse her eyes was able to snag. Finally, she put her hand on her hips and returned Roman's smug look with her own.

"It'll do for now. Any word on our pest problems?"

Torchwick sighed at Cinder's remarks. He leaned against the table with a map of Vale pinned into it, then crossed his arms.

"You're talking about that huntress and ah… little red right? Unfortunately-"

Before he can finish his sentence, Cinder lifted her hands close to her face and arrogantly examined her nails, cutting Roman off.

"That question wasn't meant for you."

Of course not. It was meant for me.

"How long have you known?"

Both Roman and Cinder looked up at the beam near the warehouse's roof, and saw me kneeling down, with my robe hiding most of my body. Torchwick looked surprised, but Cinder on the other hand- far from it.

"It took me a minute, but I eventually found out. Impressive, to be able to hide your presence for that long."

I jumped down from the beam, stretching my robe in the process, allowing me to glide down and land gracefully on the hard concrete.

"Glynda Goodwitch. That's the name of the huntress that tried to cut your escape a couple of days ago. As for little red..." I glance at an annoyed Roman for a second before continuing on. "Ruby Rose."

Cinder looked at me, unsatisfied.

"Goodwitch. Yes, I know who she is. Ozpin's personal maid. This Ruby Rose, she's important because?"

"Ozpin recruited her personally, two years earlier than most people. It might be irrelevant now, but it could a problem later, no matter how small." I quickly responded.

Still unsatisfied, Cinder pried further.

"Anything else? May I remind you that you lost contact for three days, if all you have for me is information that I already know, and a name of a random girl that MIGHT, might be a problem then-"

I know it's unwise to cut someone like Cinder off in the middle of her speech, but I find it insulting that my reputation is being questioned when I myself is not yet done talking.

"Blake Belladonna, daughter of the Belladonnas, you know, the former leaders of the White Fang, just enrolled at Beacon Academy. She was missing shortly after Sienna Khan took over, and now here she is. I wonder how her presence might affect our _employees?_"

I tuck my body away inside my robe and started walking circles around Roman and Cinder.

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation is also enrolling at Beacon. Pyrrha Nikos. Star athlete, considered as one of the best up and coming fighters in all of Remnant is also heading to Beacon Academy, along with a list of students who are planning to move there in the upcoming months because of the Vytal Festival…"

I stopped myself a few feet away in front of Cinder. I could feel the intensity, the fire that's igniting her soul through her amber eyes, even through my owl mask. To say the whole ordeal was intimidating was an understatement, but I refused to look away nonetheless.

"Is that good enough for you?"

Cinder chuckled right away, satisfied, she turned around and walked across the hall and placed her hand on one of the dust filled barrels.

"All this information in three days? I take it back, I apologize for underestimating you. I'm happy I'm getting my money's worth with you OWL, but this information is useless unless we go in further… pursue it deeper… intimately."

One can sense the maliciousness in the tone of her voice, even from a distance, and it is enough to send shivers down the spine of even the most hardened individuals, including myself.

"Understood."

My feelings aside, I know what Cinder is trying to say. All we have are dots in a map that can lead in any direction. In order to make the right turns towards our- her- destination, I need to connect the right dots together. Nikos? Belladonna? Schnee? Could be all three, could be none of them, maybe it's Rose who offers the most straightforward path. For now, it's doesn't matter, in the future? Yes. But navigating through people takes time, an investment my clients are obviously willing to make, or rather, an investment they're willing to pay, and if money is involve, then it's an investment I'm willing to make as well.

In other words, my next course of action is **infiltration**.

Torchwick, Cinder, and my eyes met and a short silence between the three of us followed after. I took it as a sign that business for today has concluded and I start to walk away, but not before…

"By the way Torchwick, how paranoid are you that you're willing to go to extreme lengths to cover your back."

Roman looked confused, so I open my hands, and extended my arms to my right side. I slowly dragged my fingers while I walked off, as the space beside me began to crumble, revealing Neo who I assume was using her semblance to create an illusion that hid her presence.

The look of shock in both Neo and Roman's face will never get old. Reactions like these are the small things that makes the risk that comes with the job, worth it, but their reaction was to be expected, what caught me off guard however was Cinder's laugh and what she said next.

"Paranoia? This coming from a guy who makes it a habit to be overly cautious and observe his prey more than he needs to." Cinder looked at me and Torchwick then looked down on the concrete, amused with the situation she just witnessed.

"Birds of a feather flock together."

Three weeks passed, and I found myself on an airship destined for Beacon Academy. Hijacked of course. Flight time took a couple of hours because of the roundabout route that we took. One can argue that it was longer than what it needed to be, but caution is what kept me alive in this profession, and I haven't found a reason yet to stop my admittedly tedious habit. My pilot, at least, doesn't seem to mind.

"10 minutes till we arrive. Time to put on your disguise, Neo."

At the drop of a hat, Neo's outfit changed into that of an airship pilot's uniform and her hair's split color turned black, the same with her eyes.

"..."

Neo looked up to me while I stood beside her, she may be mute but it's easy to tell what she's thinking right now. Seeing as there's no real reason to hide this part of my plan to my counterparts, I answered the most likely question that's bugging her mind.

"Ozpin. My information about him was right." I reached in and pulled my notebook out of the pouch attached to my belt and turned the page to Ozpin's profile. "Every year Ozpin invites talented, but less fortunate individuals to Beacon Academy. Less fortunate as in orphans for example, and he offers them a home inside the school dormitory so that they can be groomed into hunters and huntresses to 'protect' the people of Remnant."

Neo sneered at idea of Ozpin's goodwill program, almost sickened by the idea.

"There's a couple of people on the list, but the slots are limited."

I wave my hand in front of me, and a list of names popped up on the cockpit's glass.

"So I had Cinder take care of the other individuals while I hacked my way into adding myself on the list."

I pointed my finger at the middle of list where my name was located.

Seemingly impressed, Neo smiled, but something about her expression tells me she had more questions, though I'm not entirely sure whether it's hers or Roman's.

"You know, for someone who can't speak, you ask an awful amount of questions."

Expecting her to be offended, Neo simply nodded and shrugged her shoulders, probably used to idea of being ridiculed as a mute.

"I know the Academies function on a team system. It'd be wiser to come to Beacon during the Vytal Festival with Cinder and her posse, but that fourth person role is better filled by someone who can conveniently disappear at a moment's notice, and be able to actively change their role. Meaning you Neo."

She raised an eyebrow at me, amazed at the revelation I just told her while I continued my explanation.

"At this point in the semester, teams would have been filled, and the faculty would have no choice but to let me wander from team to team till a slot opens up, which is what I'm after anyways. And if they do put me on a team permanently, I'll manage."

Me and Neo's eyes met soon after.

"I wouldn't be too worried about it. After all, like Cinder said: 'Birds of a feather flock together.'"

As soon as the ship landed, I took off my mask and robe, packing both into my bags and changed into Beacon Academy's god awful uniform. I walked down the airships ramp and immediately noticed a good number of curious students, waiting to see who was arriving at Beacon Academy this late in the semester, so I played my part: a brand new student, half-nervous, half-excited.

"I guess this it cousin, on to bigger and better things!"

I turned around and gave Neo, who conveniently changed her disguise into that of a young woman who look like she lived in poverty all her life, a big hug.

"…"

With a convincingly realistic saddened look on her face, I bid Neo farewell. I flashed a giant smile at her, slung my bag behind my back and ran as fast as I could towards the school entrance. However, it only took a couple steps, till I'm met with my first roadblock.

Literally.

"OWW! Watch it buddy!"

I was too busy acting all enthusiastic that I forgot to mind my surroundings and bumped into one of the students.

"I-I'm sorry, wasn't really paying any attention there. Ahahaha."

When I looked up, I saw something I never expected to see. It was the sight of woman with a skin so fair, she looked extremely delicate, but the image of her long golden hair emanated nothing but pure confidence and toughness, so much so that it was almost intimidating. Her lilac colored eyes, was absolutely breathtaking, and the look she gave me paralyzed me on the spot. And her smile. Her carefree smile, was the prettiest smile I ever laid eyes upon. Looking at her beautiful face made feel so warm, it almost felt like I was melting.

"Hey, HEELLLOOO?" She waved her hand right in front of my stunned face. I tried to talk back, but my mouth was dry. I imagine it would be, now that I realize my jaws were hanging this whole time.

"Are you okay there bud?"

She asked. Still reeling, I somehow managed to gather enough of my composure to cough up a reply.

"Y-y-yeah, YEAH, yeah. I'm good… uhm, y-you?"

She stood up the same time as me. She bent forward and dusted her knees, completely ignoring my stutter.

"Yeah I'm fine. Peachy. You new? Haven't seen you around before."

It took me a minute to answer back, even longer to realize that I was staring at her. Not that she minds at all.

"Hmm?"

I couldn't tell if it was actually happening or not, but I pretty sure I'm blushing, so I instinctively looked away.

"Yeah, professor Ozpin's goodwill.. something, something… program… ahehehe."

She leaned in close to my face, with a curious look on hers. She stared at me for what seemed like an eternity till she finally pulled herself back. She placed her hand on my shoulder and flashed the brightest and biggest grin I've ever seen in my life.

"Cool. Well, I'll see you around new kid. Try not to bump into anyone else while you're walking around."

And with that, she ran off.

"Sure..."

A gust of wind began to blow in my direction, brushing against my skin, sending shivers down my spine. My gut tells me it's a sign, and in all my years of being in this profession, I came to the conclusion that signs like these meant trouble was on the horizon, but this time around…

It feels different… it feels… warm.


	3. Chapter 2

**...FLOCK TOGETHER**

_**YANG POV**_

"You're late. Again."

Blake spoke in her usual mono-toned voice while keeping her deadpanned expression that she always wore when she's reading her books… or all the time.

"Well. It's a bit different this time. I ran into this new kid on the way here, literally. I didn't wanna be douche after knocking him down and just go. I mean I kinda did, but I did hear him out a bit."

Nora who was sitting behind me, suddenly had her ears perked up in excitement. She leaned in closer with her hand cuffing both my ear and her mouth at the same then whispered… well, she tried to whisper.

"Did you say new kid? This late into the semester? OOH, I wonder what's his story."

Seeing as how Nora's always at a 100, it doesn't surprise me the least bit when Jaune and Ruby decided to join in on the conversation.

"You think he's one of those goodwill students that Professor Ozpin was recruiting? I thought those were just rumors… wait is this new kid even a he?"

I smirked at Jaune and nodded, much to his disappointment.

"Sis! Sis! Did you see his weapon!?"

Of course that would be the first thing Ruby wanted to ask.

"Guys, were still in class you know?"

Ren calmly protested.

"True, but I wonder which team he's going to be joining then?

Even Pyrrha's curiosity was piqued.

Soon, the small rumor mill that I inadvertently started turned into a full blown class discussion, and Oobleck was not happy about it.

"Ahem!"

All of us stopped our chattering at the same time the moment we heard Oobleck's not so subtle cough. We all shook our heads, cringing at the idea that homework tonight might be doubled… maybe even tripled, because this 'misbehavior' as he would call it. All on top of an hour long lecture. Torture. Pure torture. I was about ready to zone out every word that comes out of Professor Oobleck's mouth, when lo and behold, Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch barged in our classroom.

"Professor Ozpin."

Surprised, Ozpin's name was all he could muster at the sight of the man himself, to which Ozpin replied with a simple nod. He walked to the center of the room, twirling his cane before slamming it's tip on the wooden floor the moment he reached his destination.

"Good morning, students of Beacon Academy. I apologize for interrupting your class, Doctor Oobleck, but I have an announcement to make. I am sure most of you are aware that I have a program in this academy that allows less fortunate individuals, who exhibit great talents to become hunters and huntresses, to join our ranks as students. To give em an opportunity to learn, grow, and make a better life for themselves. Unfortunately, all of my invitations were turned down… well, all but one."

Ozpin glanced at the classroom door, urging who I assume is the student he was talking about, to come in and come in he did.

"H-hey, ah, everyone. I wasn't really expecting to have an intro as grand as this professor..."

The new kid was tall and fair skinned, with brown eyes. His hair was short and dark, messily layered on top, with the left side of his hair almost covering his left eye. He wore the typical Beacon Academy uniform with his own twist to it, with his suit unbuttoned, his collars popped up, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The knot on his necktie was loose and untucked, and to top it all off, he had a scarlet scarf lined with gold, wrapped around his waist twice over.

I leaned closer to Weiss and whispered in her ear… actually whispered.

"That's him, the new kid I was telling y'all about."

Weiss's raised her eyebrow, then quickly shifted her gaze towards the new kid, examining him from head to toe. The more she looked at him, the more agitated she got.

"How barbaric."

The moment those words came out of Weiss's mouth, Professor Goodwitch stepped forward, just as annoyed as Weiss was.

"You'll have to forgive our new student here. It would seem, he is unfamiliar with our dress code. Worry not, we'll make sure he's up to speed with Beacon Academy's standards."

The new kid placed his hands against hips and flashed a smile that lit up the whole room.

"Nope."

Everyone was shocked at how straightforward his response was. To Goodwitch no less. But none were more surprised by his answer than Professor G, herself.

"Excuse. Me?"

Unfazed, the new kid simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her.

"This is my casual clothes. Everyone's wearing they're casual clothes today aren't they?"

You can see the wrinkles in Goodwitch's face, the way she's curling her face in anger, but Ozpin stopped her from exploding right on the stop.

"Now, now Glynda, he's not exactly wrong. Here. *******cough* **Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The new kid smiled at Oz then turned towards us.

"The name's Ezra Flyheight. You can just call me Ezra. I'm a native here in Vale, down by the outskirts. I wish I could have joined you guys earlier in the year, but.. ah.. circumstances.. So here I am. Looking forward to working with you guys."

A bit uptight, and somehow carefree at the same time. Totally different from his stuttering personality earlier.

"Thank you Mr. Flyheight." Ozpin continued. "As you all know, Beacon Academy revolves around teams, and since we do not have the right amount of freshmen to place Mr. Flyheight into a separate team of his own, I have decided to put him as an 'extra,' substitute, an honorary member if you will to an already existing team."

The moment Professor Ozpin made that statement, the chattering that Oobleck stopped immediately invigorate the whole room, with each person roaring louder than they did a second ago. I mean, how could we not? An extra body to a four-man team? That's an absolute game changer, for better OR worse.

"Nice. I wonder which team he's running to?"

I slouched back and crossed my legs under my desk, looking all excited. Blake doesn't seem to really care all that much, Ruby's ecstatic, probably for all the wrong reasons, and Weiss… is still agitated.

"Well it doesn't really matter, but he better not be in OUR team."

Blake glanced back at Weiss, finally showing some sort of interest.

"Why's that? The more the merrier is how the saying goes right?"

Weiss snared at Blake, diverting her irritation towards her.

"What?" Blake answered back. "I just don't tend to judge a book based on its cover."

Weiss seemed amused by Blake's reaction. She had the look of a spoiled child, ready to lay down the law the moment someone says anything that doesn't agree with her ideas. The classic Weiss look, basically.

"We have enough to worry about as a team as it is, we don't really need another person to mess up our chemistry."

I mean, she does bring up a good point, snarky as she is, and it seems it's not just Weiss who thinks about this whole situation that way. Looking around, I noticed JNPR and CRDL shared the same sentiment. I guess Weiss was the only one confident enough to voice out what everyone was already thinking.

"Calm down everyone. You all don't have to speculate about this any further considering I've already made the decision to which team Ezra here should go to."

And just like that, the room was silent once again. It was so quiet you can practically hear our hearts thumping in anticipation. We all kept our eyes wide open, keeping them fixated at Ozpin, urging him to make the announcement. Seconds felt like hours, and I can feel my throat and eyeballs drying up as I barely blinked the whole time, till finally, Ozpin decided to speak once more.

"I reviewed everyone's performance the moment they arrived at Beacon up until now, and then cross-examined it with Mr. Flyheight's data based on his profiles from his past academic studies. With all that in mind, I've come to the conclusion that Team RWBY is the most suited team for Ezra's skill set."

Weiss jinxed it. She definitely jinxed it.

"NICE!"

Ruby, unable to contain herself, jumped for joy, as she carelessly leaned over the edge of her desk and yelled at Ezra, while she waved her hands erratically at the same time.

"Ruby calm down, you're embarassing us!" Weiss protested. "Besides, I will not stand for this!"

Weiss stood up and crossed her arms, she did it with such speed and vigor that she practically demand everyone's attention without even saying a word.

"I object, professor! For all we know this guy doesn't have a lick of talent in him and all he could be doing is ruin our team's already flimsy chemistry! With all do respect, I request that you send him somewhere else!"

Ozpin chuckled at Weiss's demands, he calmly collected himself then raised a hand, ready to counter her statements, but before he could say anything, Ezra stepped forward.

"So you're questioning my skills then?"

He asked with a grin on his face.

"Precisely what I'm saying."

She arrogantly responded without a lick of hesitation.

"So you're saying I'm not qualified? I'm assuming you're saying that as Team RWBY's leader then?"

Weiss stuttered at his remarks, seeing as how she already salty about the team's leadership situation, what Ezra said hit her straight to where it hurts the most: her pride. Bullseye.

"Why you little..."

Ruby slowly sat back down, nervously laughing, while Blake decided to not have any part of it at all and decided to just walk to a different seat altogether. Everyone looked at Weiss, waiting for the inevitable explosion that should be happening in 3...2...1.

"Who do you think you are!? Fine! I challenge you to a duel!"

Ezra reveled in Weiss' anger. He mockingly laughed at her while Ozpin looked at him surprised and disappointed at the same time.

"How about it Professor Ozpin? Set it up?"

Ozpin sighed, and paused for a second before eventually conceding to the two's request.

"All right everyone, to the sparring room we go."

Aaannd to the sparring room we went. Half an hour passed, and the two combatants stood face to face right in front of each other while Ozpin stood in between them explaining the rules.

"Just so we're clear Ms. Schnee, the outcome of this match will not change my mind at all."

Weiss quickly glanced at Ozpin then raised her weapon up. She lifted her shoulders squarely, and moved her right foot forward. The way she was sneering at Ezra made it very clear how eager she was to flex on the new kid.

"It might not change your opinions professor, but it might change his. At the very least, he'll know his place."

Ezra sarcastically let out a loud laugh. He then bent his knees, after he spread his feet equally apart. He pulled out his katana from his left side then held its hilt tightly with both his hands. Ezra shrugged off the smile on his face, then brought the blade of his katana parallel to his face, so close in fact that you can see the reflection of his eyes on the blade.

"His form is perfect."

Blake, who sat right beside me, whispered to herself. She turned to towards me, and immediately, I can tell she was worried. About what, I have no idea.

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing Ezra can't handle. Maybe. Weiss is strong, but she's not a savage. She knows when to hold back. Besides, it's a good opportunity to test him. If he can't last very long while fighting Weiss, then we know we have some work to do."

I reassured her.

"True, but I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about Weiss… call it… a gut feeling."

Whatever that means. Blake's not usually the type to show any sort of emotion, so seeing her all tensed and worried got me feeling the same way as well.

"Dance." Ezra whispered, seemingly to his weapon. "Shirayuki."

The instant those words escaped Ezra's mouth, his katana's blade began to fog up, giving the impression that it was made of hardened snow. A whitish mist began to envelop him as well, though you can only see it if you squint your eyes. It was obvious that Ezra was manipulating dust to use ice as a form of weaponry, and Weiss seemed to notice as well.

"An ice user huh? Well, you're in for a surprise."

She arrogantly claimed.

"Ready. Set. Fight!"

The instant Ozpin stepped out of the arena, Weiss immediately summoned her glyphs in a straight line, propelling herself at an incredibly blinding speed, but Ezra reacted quickly. He tilted his body to the side, barely dodging Weiss's attack. He then hopped a short distance away while he slashed his sword sideways. Weiss reacted just as fast, using her open hand to summon a glyph to block his attack. She then rolled forward, allowing her to close in before Ezra could land and unleash a flurry of attacks, which he agilely dodge one after another.

"I don't get it."

Blake intervened. I looked at her all confused, quickly glancing at her then back at the match, not wanting to miss any second of the fight.

"Why's he dodging? Sword fights are nothing more than an intricate exchange of offense and defense. It may not seem like it, but it's somewhat turn-based. If he parried any one of those attacks, he could have easily countered, and gain momentum."

I'm not much of a sword gal myself, so I couldn't really tell, but Blake looks just as invested as I was in the match, and she clearly knows what she's talking about. From my point of view however, Weiss is winning. She continued to pressure Ezra, leading him into the edge of the stage with her stabs. She created a glyph right about hip height which she quickly hopped on to, launching herself up to kick Ezra in the face, but he quickly blocked it by slapping the side of her boot before it actually made any sort of contact. The whole exchange knocked Weiss to the ground. She quickly rolled and flipped herself back up, but not before Ezra closed in, putting him on the offensive. He slashed sideways once, then twice, then slashed up in less than two seconds, but Weiss parried all three attacks effortlessly. However, in a curious move, Ezra hopped back allowing her to get the advantage back, and suddenly, what Blake was trying to say earlier started to make sense.

"Yoo, why would he give up pressure just like that?"

Impressed, Blake smiled at me for a quick second.

"Now you see what I'm talking about? He certainly has the agility, strength, and stamina to dodge Weiss's high speed attacks, so it's not because he's physically weak."

Ruby jumped in after overhearing our conversation.

"Lack of fighting experience then?"

Could be, but Blake has other thoughts.

"No. It's like he's protecting his sword."

All our eyes now focused on the match with a new perspective, and watched Ezra's blade as the fight continued. Weiss ducked down and waved her sword down at Ezra's feet, which he easily jumped over. Instinctively, he slammed his katana towards Weiss, but predicting that that might be Ezra's next move, she strategically placed a glyph right above her, knocking Ezra off-balanced, and causing him to slip. Seeing this, Weiss pushed forward, running at him at full speed, but Ezra twisted his whole body as he was falling down, catapulting his heel towards Weiss's face, knocking her down just as he fell down.

"You'll pay for that!"

Weiss yelled.

"Bring it, princess!"

Ezra yelled back.

The two of them rose up at the same time and ran towards each other, but Weiss cleverly stabbed her weapon on the ground, summoning wall of ice right in front of her. She then gracefully twirled backwards and summoned two more glyphs behind her that launched two ice spikes towards Ezra as he was vaulting over her ice wall.

"Tch."

Upset that he was caught off guard, Ezra tightened his shoulders and rammed it against one of the ice spikes, taking a big hit causing his aura to shimmer. He then leaped forward, and rolled to dodge the other, allowing him to close in on Weiss instantly. The two of them engaged in an intense exchange of dodging and parrying each other's strike, locking themselves in what seems like a dance that would never end.

"They're evenly matched."

I accidentally said out loud, completely in awe of the two's duel, but Pyrrha behind me whipped me back to reality.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that."

I looked back at her, shocked, and then glanced back at the arena, and this time, it seemed like Weiss finally had the upper hand for good. Ezra's insistence on not blocking has finally caught up to him. His dodging made Weiss realize that she could easily bait him into moving into spots where his balance would be off, or the angle would be too tight for a counterattack. Eventually, the pressure Weiss was constantly putting on him forced him to block, and the moment he did, Weiss cocked her hand back then thrust her weapon as strong and as fast as she possibly could, hitting Ezra's blade just at the right angle that it broke it in half, knocking him on the ground at the same time.

"How about that Ezra. I win."

An exhausted Weiss pointed her sword at the back of Ezra's head, who had his right knee on the ground, and his upper body, kept upright by his katana, which he used like a crutch.

"I wouldn't move a muscle if I were you Ms. Schnee."

Ozpin's voice echoed throughout the silent arena. He inched his way slowly to Weiss then placed his hand on her wrist, forcing her to lower her sword. He then carefully pushed her back then urged her to turn around, and what she saw behind her made her jaw drop.

"W-when… H-how?"

Everyone in the arena followed Weiss's line of sight, and we were all just as shocked as she was when we saw a pillar of ice protruding from the ground where the other half of Ezra's blade landed. Judging from the trajectory of the ice pillar, it was pointed directly -mere inches- at the back of Weiss's head. Ironically, it's the same body part she pointed her weapon at Ezra.

"I proclaim this match as a draw."

Ozpin announced to the audience. He then looked at Weiss and lowered his voice, unfortunately for Ozpin, the movement of his lips was profound enough that I was able to read what he was saying.

"He's not so talent-less after all, isn't he, Ms. Schnee?"

Weiss stood there stunned. To say that we were worried was an understatement, but to the three of us' surprise, she quickly composed herself and helped Ezra up then shook his hand, almost congratulating him. Even the new kid himself was shocked.

"WEISS!"

Without me and Blake realizing, Ruby already went ahead and jumped down to the stage and ran towards Weiss with her arms wide open. I looked at Blake, saw that she had the same kind smile on her face that I had. By the time me and Blake jumped down and landed on our feet, Ruby was already congratulating Ezra.

"WOW Ezra that was so **_COOL!_** How'd you do it!? Is it your semblance!? Your weapon!? OOOH! Please say it's your weapon!"

Ruby had her fists clenched up to her chin, with her larger than normal eyes, fixated at Ezra, who to my surprise wasn't too bothered about my little sister's enthusiasm.

"Yup, sure is! It's a combination of both actually."

Ezra lifted his katana and pointed it Ruby, oddly enough however, he was only holding the katana's hilt. The blade itself was missing. He looked at Ruby, who stared at his weapon with a look of curiosity so intense that only a 2 year old can match it, then grinned.

"The blade itself is made out of dust."

He pushed a button near the katana's guard, causing the bottom portion to drop like a magazine on a pistol. He swiftly caught the empty cartridge, and elegantly switched it out with another container he pulled out of his pocket without us noticing.

"...and then add my semblance here, and presto!"

Ezra pointed his katana upwards. He closed his eyes, as he inhaled a huge chunk of air, then slowly exhaled causing the actual blade to materialize. It was like moisture quickly freezing into the shape of a blade.

"So that's why you didn't want me to make contact with your blade."

Weiss commented from the back. She had her arms crossed, her hips slightly bent to the side, her foot constantly tapping the floor, and.. yep, still wearing that same irritated look.

"Moisture control?"

She guessed, but Ezra was quick to correct her.

"Nah, heat manipulation. Absorption to be more precise. Absorb enough heat using my semblance to create a cold spot right on top the hilt, then use dust as a catalyst to materialize the cold."

Fancy.

"That's freaking awesome, Ez! You don't mind if I call you Ez, do you? I-I'm Ruby Rose by the way, I'm Team RWBY's leader. Nice to meet you!"

Ruby offered her hand to Ezra to which he more than happily accepted. Blake moved in a bit closer and extended her hand as well.

"Blake Belladonna. Getting a draw from Weiss Schnee is no easy task. Impressive. I'm not much of a talker, but I'm looking forward to learning more about sword fighting with you. You have talent."

Ezra blushed for a second, placing his other hand behind his head while he shook Blake's hand with the other.

"Weiss Schnee. Like Blake said, you definitely have talent. You'll be a good addition to Team RWBY, but don't get the wrong idea! One slip up and you're off the team!"

He laughed at Weiss's remarks as the two shook hands. Looking at the them now, it's pretty obvious that they bonded a little during their match. I mean their relationship is already leagues better than their stand off at the other classroom half an hour ago. I get the sense that they're a bit competitive against each other now, and not confrontational, maybe rivalry is a better way of describing them, but I digress, seeing as how it's my turn to introduce myself.

"What's up new kid! Didn't expect to bump into you this soon."

The instant Ezra looked my way, his jaws immediately dropped halfway, and had his eyes fixed at my face. He had his hands closed to his chest, while he stood there frozen like a statue.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were staring at me earlier too."

I jokingly said out loud with the intention of breaking the tension between the two of us, but to my surprise, he chuckled and simply went back to his normal cheery self. He inched his way closer and flashed an innocent smile at my direction.

"Y-yeah, yeah. I guess I am. Okay, okay, the first one was accidental, I couldn't help it. Imagine bumping into someone on your first day, and the person you happen to bump into was a woman as beautiful as you. I mean, can you really blame me if I froze up on the spot?"

It took a me a moment to process everything he said, but it made me giggle without really thinking about it. I closed my eyes and shook my head while I extend my hand to him.

"That's sweet, Ezra. Thank you."

I opened my eyes and quickly flicked my head sideways, forcing my bangs to sway to the left. I looked at his innocent face and laughed while he grabbed hold of my hand.

"And the second time?"

I asked, since I felt like he was baiting me to ask anyways.

"Well it's because I'm surprised. I wasn't expecting to have an opportunity to correct the biggest mistake I almost made today."

I didn't really notice it at first, but we've been holding each other's hands longer than your conventional handshake.

"Which is?"

And with the softest tone I've ever heard from a man, Ezra replied.

"Not asking your name."

It was clear that our whole conversation was a setup to get to this moment, but for some reason, I don't really regret taking the bait this time around.

"Yang. Yang Xiao Long."

We gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever, both of us not wanting look away. All of a sudden, the noise, the scenery around us, even the smell, all of it, started to fade away and I only thing I could really see… could only really feel was Ezra… UUUPP until Ruby decided to wrap her arms around our necks.

"Oh guys this is going to be so exciting! I can already tell you'll fit in just fine Ez!"

Ezra's grip on my hand slowly loosened. He grabbed Ruby's hand and untangled himself from the three way knot Ruby created with me in it then laughed.

"...birds of a feather flock together, I guess."


	4. Chapter 3

**REAP WHAT YOU SOW **

Coffee. Regardless of my cover, the one thing that remains constant throughout all of this is coffee. Keeps me sane. Keeps me grounded. Keeps me, me, because the more I do this job, the more I have to invest in different personalities, often times to get close to people- my targets. You do it enough times, and you start to lose sight of who you really are, your motivations, and your ambitions, and if you lose sight of who you are then what's the point of living?

"How much sugar are you gonna put in there."

Yang leaned her back across the counter, and watched me pour an insurmountable amounts of sugar and cream in my coffee. I quickly glanced at her with a smile on my face then watched the sugar and cream in my hands change the color of my coffee.

"Till it starts to taste like chocolate milk."

She took a sip of her coffee then leaned in closer, taking a peak of my now brown coffee.

"Diabetes."

I laughed at her remarks, as I put both the creamer and sugar down. I turned my back against the counter and slid myself right next to her, close enough that I can feel her breath as she blew the steam off of her pitch black coffee.

As an extra member of the team, I wasn't able to get a room with the girls. Ozpin set me up with a room of my own, small and modest, but it's more comfortable than the bed I have in the slums. The dormitory kitchen on the first floor pretty much became our Team's hangout spot… well, me and Yang's.

"How do you like Beacon so far?"

Yang asked, while she sipped her coffee. She raised her cup high enough to cover half her face, only revealing her bubbly eyes pointed straight at mine.

"It's pretty… normal so far surprisingly. It's not any different from my old school in the slums. People still get bullied, people still hate faunus… I don't know, I guess I expected a little bit more class from the people aspiring to be the defenders of Remnant, you know? At least that was one thing I was really excited about."

Yang looked down on the floor, with a sad smile on her face.

"Unfortunately..."

I cut her off mid sentence. I don't why but a part of me wanted to cheer her up. Maybe it's partly because I answered her question in an unexpectedly gloomy way.

"But hey, normal ain't necessarily a bad thing. In a way, seeing the familiar – good and bad, made it easier for me to transition here at Beacon. Sides, there's one thing Beacon has that my old school outside didn't." I winked at her, then took a sip of my extra sweet coffee. "Totally makes it a 1000% better."

She smirked at me, pretending like she's not interested, but the look on her face says otherwise. It took her a couple of seconds, but she eventually gave in to her curiosity.

"And that is?.."

I grinned at her, then nudge her shoulder with mine as I answered, gently knocking her off balance.

"You! Dummy."

Her giggle turned into laughter. Yang turned to me and slapped my in shoulders while she tried to hide her face with her cup.

"You're feeling extra cheesy today with your pick up lines huh?"

I looked at her, instantly wiping the smile off my face and replaced it with a serious look.

"Well, is it working?"

I asked, then immediately smiled back at her jokingly. I looked her straight in her eyes, while I waited for her reply, but just before she could say anything back, Weiss popped her head out of nowhere and caught us both by surprise.

"There you guys are! Geez, I've been looking for you two. Yang wasn't in her bed when I woke up, and you, Ez wasn't in your room. What are you guys doing anyways? No… wait!"

Weiss paused for a second with her mouth wide open. She rested her arm against the doorway while she leaned forward, this time, wearing a mischievous look on her face.

"Are you two...?"

I put down my cup and walked away from Yang till I'm side by side with Weiss. I shrugged my shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes with a sarcastic expression.

"Coffee. Weiss. Caffeine. I probably need all the energy I can get if we're going to scout the competition."

Weiss crossed her arms and growled at me.

"AH! Excuse me, I wanted to go to downtown Vale to welcome the Vacuo students attending the Vytal Festival. Now hurry up, or we'll miss the ferry!"

She threatened us, then left. Yang tried to comply, happily trotting her way out the kitchen, but before she could go, I slammed my hand against the doorway, creating a blockade between her and the hallway then leaned in closer to her face.

"SO.. are we?"

Yang crossed her arms, unfazed by my question.

"Are we what?"

I grinned at her, then answered her question without hesitation.

"A thing, of course!"

Yang immediately laughed at my answer. She clenched her stomach before ducking under my arms and walked backwards towards where Weiss was going.

"In your dreams bud."

Me and Yang joked around with each other till we eventually met with everyone at the docks. Coincidentally, our meeting place is also right next to the crime scene caused by White Fang's dust robbery hit, coordinated by none other than my associate...

"Torchwick."

Ruby muttered under her breath. It's no surprise she knew Roman's name. She crossed blades with him at one point, and his bravado about inducing fear throughout Vale, as silly as it sounds, has worked. As annoying as the guy is, his plans has worked. I certainly need to give him more credit, but of course, I'm never going to tell him that.

"Ezra… Ez!"

It felt like Ruby was close to slapping me in the face, the way she was yelling at me. It seems I spaced out after staring at the crime scene for too long.

"W-wha? Ruby, I told you before, you don't have to rename Team RWBY just cause of me, I'm just a sub after all, not likely to even participate in the tournament-"

But Ruby cut me off.

"No, that's not it. Weiss and Blake are arguing about the White Fang, and faunus stuff."

Really, Blake? Arguing? I tilted my head, and sure enough, Blake's had a furious expression on her face, one I didn't know she was capable of making. Me and Yang tried to step in before it escalated any further, but as soon as we took a step forward, a gust of wind stopped us right in our tracks.

"Don't let that stowaway get away!"

The five of us immediately tilted our heads to the running sailor, as a man with blonde hair, and a long golden tail, wearing a half open shirt ran past us. He had a childish look on his face and winked at Blake the instant he passed us.

"See! This is what I meant when I said faunuses are nothing but lowly criminals! Now come on!"

Weiss pointed her finger at us, then quickly ran after the stowaway faunus. Me, Ruby, and Yang, looked at each other, feeling like we had no other choice but run after the guy, so we did, with Blake not far behind us. The whole chase took us all over downtown Vale, taking corners and alleyways even I didn't know existed till all of a sudden, we stopped.

"W-why are we stopping? We've almost got him!"

I complained, but immediately shut my mouth after looking down at Weiss, who was literally on top of another person. Startled, she quickly stood up, bewildered at the fact that the girl she fell on top of is still lying down at the pavement, motionless.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!"

She had a smile that stretched from ear to ear, as she glared at Weiss, freaking her out, and frankly, it freaked me out as well.

"Um hello."

Ruby hesitantly answered back. Yang looking concerned, joined in reluctantly as well.

"Are you… okay?"

The weird girl then turned her attention to Yang.

"Yes! Thank you for asking." Not convinced, Yang looked at me, seemingly asking for advice, to which I simply replied with a confused look on my face. "Do you wanna get up?" She continued.

Seconds of pure silence passed, before the girl finally decided to get up.

"My name is Penny, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

We all went through our introductions as common courtesy, before we FINALLY decided to leave this weirdo behind, but she was persistent, all because Ruby decided to call her 'friend.' Forced to endure another conversation, Yang decided to ask what's she doing in Vale, and her answer quickly snagged my attention.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!"

Penny… Penny… Don't tell me.

"Wait, you said you're name's Penny right? You don't mean Penny Pol-"

Weiss constantly interfering with my conversations today is starting to really piss me off.

"Wait a minute… if you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

She grabbed Penny by the shoulders, completely ecstatic by the idea of her being acquainted with the faunus that we were chasing. I, on the other hand, am more ecstatic about the fact that the Penny Polendina is here in Vale. Word around the street is that Atlus was able to create a synthetic human – a robot capable of producing an aura. If I kidnap her and sell her in the black market, the amount of money I'd make would easily trump what Cinder is paying me. Though I'm not foolish enough to do that. There is value in loyalty after all.

"You ignorant little brat!"

Blake's yelling brought my mind back down to reality. I didn't catch what they were arguing about, but I have a feeling it's because of Weiss's discriminatory behavior towards the faunus. Soon, their argument evolved into a full blown shouting match that the four of us couldn't stop, with each of them trying to jam their own ideologies down the other's throat. This continued on till we got back to the ladies' room. It was entertaining at first, then it became embarrassing the more we passed by people, and now it's just irritating. The only reprieve I got from this god awful argument was when my scroll vibrated in my pocket, forcing me to pull it out and step away from the conversation.

[From Auntie C: Haven't seen you around in a while, you promise you'd visit _regularly_]

It was a coded message of course. My real Aunt was long dead. The 'Auntie' in my scroll is none other than Cinder. Receiving humiliating messages from your family is probably the most normal thing a student can get during their time at school. Doesn't arouse suspicion. It also gives me an alibi to walk out of here, but Blake beat me to it.

"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"

Blake's anger got the best of her, and from the looks of it, she said something she didn't want to say. Everyone else was shocked at the revelation that she was a faunus. Blake looked around with her jaws wide open, not knowing what to say next. Feeling like she had no other choice, she fled.

"W-ELLL. That was a… mess."

I put both my hands behind my head and slowly made my way towards the window.

"I think I'll follow Blake's lead, and call it a night too."

I hoped on the window frame, getting ready to jump when a concerned Ruby stopped me.

"Wait, Ez… what are we gonna do about Blake?"

I sighed and bowed my head, not wanting to look back at her.

"Nothing. It's a phase she'll have to go through. As a faunus- No, as a person."

I stopped myself and glanced at Weiss. She can pretend that she doesn't care, but I can tell from the look on her face right now that she does. Deeply in fact.

"It's a phase WE'LL have to go through."

Hearing what I said, Yang's lilac eyes, turned into a frightening bright red color as she began yelling at me immediately.

"WE!? It's pretty funny that you're preaching about WE when you're ditching us right now? Ditching Blake! Who obviously need us right now."

I scratched the back of my head, still refusing to look back at them.

"Blake's a grown woman, she can handle-"

But Yang cut me off.

"No! We are Team RWBY! You're name might not be part of the acronym, but you're part of the team nonetheless, why are you deciding to abandon us now!? And you lecture about us 'we'. Ain't that a bit hypocritical?"

She then diverted her attention towards Weiss.

"And you, Weiss, how can you say such rude things to Blake? Is it really that difficult to hear someone out-"

Weiss stood up from her seat, with the intention of arguing back, but I figured it's my turn to step in and finally end this day long, worthless conversation.

"Hypocritical!? You wanna talk about hypocrisy? How about the three of you, acting all buddy buddy, bragging about how close you all are, but not even realize that one of you're closest teammate is a faunus!?"

Great, even I'm yelling.

"So what if Blake's a faunus? Does that invalidate the time you've spent with her? Is all that really enough to break this team apart?"

Yang looked at me dumbfounded, upset that I called her out and yelled at her and everyone else, though I admittedly don't know which of the two she's more upset about. I turn my back on them once more and continued.

"If you ask me, the five of us have been focusing on the wrong things about each other. We ignored our weaknesses, hid our insecurities, set aside our needs and focused too much on how to forge a better team, when the wiser move would have been to confront them head on and grow together… and this where it led us… this is where we are unfortunately… divided. You reap what you sow."

I glanced at Yang one more time. There's something about the angered look on her face that made my heart ache, that made me want to run away. It was... too much for me.

"If you need me… just… send me a message."

And with that, I too, left. I quickly ran to my hiding spot, changing into my OWL persona in a matter of minutes, and soon, I found myself traversing the rooftops of Vale, as fast as the wind can take me, but not in the direction I was supposed to be heading. Something about Yang's look a minute ago… something about how we parted ways that was bothering me. It was like she was counting on me to be on her side, but I failed her. Maybe it's because of her that I found myself on a rooftop a couple of yards away from where Blake is standing at. Somehow, I felt obligated to find her and make sure she's okay, the way Yang wanted to. Somehow, I felt like this was more important than meeting Cinder tonight.

[Auntie C: No more codes OWL. Where are you?]

I glanced at my scroll, still debating whether or not I should respond. My gaze shifted between Blake and my scroll, unsure whether or not I should ignore Cinder and talk to Blake. I know it's a bad idea but…

"Alright Yang, let's do it your way."

I whisper to myself, as I begin to take off my mask, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the same faunus that we were chasing earlier, approach Blake. I tried to activate the sound amplifier in my mask, but Cinder's patience has finally run out, and decided to call. Left with no other choice, I knelt down and stood my scroll off the ledge of the rooftop while I examined Blake and the other faunus as I initiate a video call with my boss.

[OWL! I will not tolerate you ignoring me. You work for me, don't ever forget that.]

Not knowing what kind of threat this faunus possess, I elected to not shift my gaze off of Blake for even a second, and decided to just answer Cinder without looking at her.

"Polendina."

I can hear the anger in Cinder's voice, even after I gave her a some information.

[Is that supposed to mean anything?]

I tapped the corner of my mask, causing my owl eyes to zoom in and focus on both Blake and the other faunus, still more concerned about them than Cinder.

"Black market news network. According to my sources, Atlus was able to manufacture a humanoid robot capable of producing aura, and I believe she's here in Vale. Penny. Penny Polendina."

Hearing what I had to say, Cinder seemed to calm down.

[Interesting. Now this… this is a game changer. I'm surprised you haven't taken this into your own hands and make more money off of this Polendina girl. Not that we don't have contingencies of course.]

Cinder continued to talk, but unfortunately, it coincided with my sound amplifier picking up bits and pieces of Blake's conversation.

"The name's Sun Wukong … bzzzt… WHITE FANG… bzzt."

[… Me and my crew… Vale… in a few days.]

Sun Wukong? From Team SSSN? Wait a minute, did they just say white fang?

"They're going after the White Fang!?"

Hearing Sun and Blake's conversation about the white fang caught me off guard, and I accidentally said some of the details of their conversation out loud, and unfortunately, Cinder heard.

[Someone's after the white fang? OWL? OWL? Who?]

I've never been so glad about my mask, the fact that it's hiding my panicked look right now is nothing short of miraculous. I quickly picked up my scroll and briskly jogged to the other end of the rooftop, where I eventually jumped off, automatically switching the video call to audio. I glided behind a tree that's perfectly angled away from Sun and Blake's point of view. I slowly stood up, to confirm whether or not they can see me, and sure enough, the two of them couldn't. Armed with this knowledge, I took the opportunity to throw a small feather shaped tracker straight at Sun's shirt.

"Vale police is starting to get close to Roman. I'll cut em' off here and lead em somewhere else."

[Good. Do that and report back. And OWL. I won't tolerate distractions any more. Money's not the only thing that binds you and me now.]

I paused for a second, trying to process what Cinder could possibly be referring to, and I can only think of one reason.

[Image received. From Auntie C]

The moment I opened her message, fear immediately overcame my whole body.

[Stay obedient OWL, and nothing happens to them, cash keeps flowing through your account, and _they_ stay happy and well fed.]

Cinder sent me a photo of my family, my younger siblings… or rather, a fake one. Money is a universal language, no matter your motives. With the amount of money I'm hauling, it'd be stupid to not invest in contingencies of my own. However, the fact that Cinder found my fake sibling means she's snooping around, and it'll only be a matter of time till she finds my real family. There is no honor among thieves after all

[Understood] I replied. I waited a couple more minutes, and got no response in return. It seems Cinder trusted me not to act stupid enough at least, after sending me that photo.

I was careless. Information is a two way street, I can acquire them, my enemies can acquire them, and so can my _allies_. It's common sense, the key is to play your cards right and not take risks when it's not necessary, and ignoring Cinder tonight to look for Blake was risk I did not have to take.

All because of…

[Voicemail Received. From Yang X.L.]

Yang.

[Hey Ez, I-I'm sorry I lost my cool tonight. I think you're right honestly, I just didn't wanna admit it. It's stupid, this whole situation I mean… I really don't know what to say now hahaha. I-I just wanna make things right with you. I MEAN THE TEAM! TEAM RWBY! So… uhh, coffee as usual? Tomorrow morning?]

I gritted my teeth in anger. I clenched my scroll so hard I can feel it slowly cracking on the side, but the more I think about Yang's words, both from the conversation we had in the room, and her message now, the less angry I got at my situation. Soon, I found it impossible to resist and answered her back with a text.

[Sounds great.]

Immediately, she replied.

[AWESOME! I'll make it up to you. Diabetes right? I mean, till it starts to taste like chocolate milk?]

Reading all that made me feel so light, I felt like I was floating. All of a sudden, choosing to follow Blake felt like it wasn't such a bad idea after all. Cinder is salvageable, it's not the first time I've hit a rough patch with my employer, nor is it the first time my family has been threatened.

Reading Yang's message made me feel like it'll all work out. In a weird and morbid way, and all things considered, I'm glad today turned out the way it did. You reap what you sow.


	5. Chapter 4

**YESTERDAY IS HISTORY, TOMORROW IS A MYSTERY...**

Sunrise came earlier than I expected, and I honestly wished it didn't cause now, I'm late for my appointment. Again. Still, hopping all over Vale, last night wasn't all for naught. At the very least, I was able to confirm that Sun and Blake had absolutely zero plans on how they want to approach the white fang. It gives me time to shove both of them out of harm's way, while allowing Roman to do his part in all of this hassle free.

I quickly changed into my Beacon uniform, and ran to the kitchen as soon as possible. I'm glad that I did, cause the moment I made that last turn on the kitchen hallway, Yang was already there with two cups of coffee in her hand.

"You're late."

She jokingly said with a smile on her face. Yang handed me the cup on her left hand, which I cautiously took a sip of the moment I took it of her hand.

"Like chocolate milk."

I smiled at her, impressed that she was able to somehow mimic the amount of sugar and cream I placed on my drink the day before. Yang smiled back, with a slight blush on her face. Her smile, however did not last long. She tucked her elbows right against her waist, and cuffed her drink close to her chest, as she stared at her own reflection on the pitch black coffee.

"Hey, about last night..."

I stopped her right away.

"Don't worry about it."

I insisted, but because Yang is Yang, naturally stubborn, she denied my insistence. Yang looked back at me pouting. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, as I leaned back right next to her on the kitchen counter.

"I didn't mean what I said last night. I- calling you out just like that was below the belt. Hypocritical, like you said. You're part of the team, and yet I made it seem like I was pushing you away. More like pushing all of our team's problems on you instead of solving it, and I-"

I took my index finger and jammed it on the side of her cheek, probably angering her in the process.

"Yang. You were right too, you know. Maybe bailing last night was the wrong choice. In times of peril where Blake needed us the most- where we needed each other… together… I chose to turn my back and leave. Also… self discovery was probably the worst excuse I could've come up with last night… so uhm, sorry."

Yang took a deep breath, and looked at me with a soft smile.

"Ez, truth be told, I'm really not all concerned about what was said last night. I mean what I said just now, but I-I'm more worried about you getting mad at me more than anything else. T-that's probably the last thing I wanted to see happen, and I guess I'm apologizing because I want to-"

I cut her off while I stared deep into her lovely lilac eyes.

"Erase that feeling I got when we started fighting… I know, I feel the same way."

She looked at me, blushing and embarrassed, then looked away. Feeling that I'm probably, blushing as well, I instinctively did the same thing. Yang then slowly crept closer till our elbows touched, still with her gaze focused somewhere else.

"Sooo… why did you leave last night Ez?"

This is it, the perfect moment, the moment where I pour my heart out with a heart clenching story that I've been preparing for ever since this infiltration mission started. A false background, a sob story that breaks down people's guard in order to get what I want. I have about 30 of these all memorized, and I can easily recite one of them on the spot for situations like these, but for some reason, now that I'm looking at Yang, all those false histories that I made up vanished, and the only one I can remember is the one I actually experienced.

"Family. I grew up here in Vale with my three sisters: Elle, Elize, and Edna. Triplets, and as you can probably tell, my parents' favorite letter is 'E'."

I smiled at the thought of my three young sisters, then took a sip of my hot coffee.

"Well I say, Vale but technically… eh, I guess it is still Vale, anyways..."

I looked at Yang with a sarcastic smile, attempting to diffuse the concern she's about to feel once I finished what I'm about to say.

"Mountain Glenn is probably a more accurate name for the place I grew up in."

Yang's jaws dropped.

"That abandoned city right by the outskirts of Vale?"

I nodded.

"Mmhmm. We were a migrating clan of hunters that came from Mistral. My sisters were just born when the head of the clan, my father, decided to settle in Mountain Glenn permanently. We were offered a contract: protect the colony in exchange for a place to stay. A place to lay down our roots. It wasn't a bad gig. I was young, but I remember how tiring… walking was. Ridiculous I know, it's just walking after all but the anxiety, the fear, and just the overall feeling of not being safe when we were on the move was something I was glad we were finally getting rid of."

Soon, I found myself staring at my reflection in my coffee the way Yang did just moments ago.

"As you can probably tell based on the Mountain's state, it didn't exactly go as planned. It was fine at first, but Grimm after Grimm started to invade till it was too much for us to handle, and soon we were overrun. It was father who died first. He stood in between the army of Grimm and the people of Mountain Glenn, he felt it was his duty to do so. He died honorably, like the leader that he was. My mother, my sisters, and I were the first group to ride the train out of the colony, but the Grimm were fast, relentless, vicious..."

I couldn't even tell that tears were flowing down my face, till a drop of it caused a ripple in the coffee that distorted my reflection.

"Mom sacrificed herself, separating me and my sister's cart, from the train's main body so we could get away. Me being a kid and only survivor along with my infant sisters, naturally didn't know how to control a runaway train, and we crashed."

I rubbed my arms across my face, wiping the tears off of my face.

"Thankfully, we crashed in Vale, unharmed. The people that found us were not your average people. They're way of life were… say… peculiar. Life was hard where we landed, and it wasn't uncommon for people to rely on thievery, swindling other people, and setting up shop on the shady part of town, but they were good people. Good people. They didn't really harm anyone, annoying them would be a better term to describe it. Just trying to make a living. They treated us kindly. They weren't you're typical family, but they were family nonetheless. More than anyone in our situation had at least."

I forced a smile at Yang, who silently stood by, not knowing how to respond.

"It's a good thing I had talent at least. I guess I learned enough from my old man that I was able to train. HARD. Hard enough for Beacon Academy to notice me, and here I am! Drinking coffee with the most beautiful woman in the whole school."

It took her a second to process what I said, but the moment she did, all the traces of worrying vanished from her face. She stepped back for a second, then softly swung her fist against my face, while she blushed.

"God, you're never gonna stop acting all cheesy are you?"

She laughed as she turned back around, with her back landing on the counter right next to me.

"Is that why you left last night?"

Yang asked with a curios look on her face.

"Y-yeah. I visited the my sisters last night to make sure they're alright, and as part of a promise I made with them."

They were lies of course. I didn't visit my sisters, it would be stupid to do so, especially now that I've found out that Cinder's on the prowl, out looking for any leverage against me, but out of all the information I told Yang, this piece of information was the only lie I made. I had to. That's how I justify it at least.

"Now I feel even more like a jerk for yelling last night."

She pouted.

"Well don't worry about it."

We coincidentally both looked at each other at the same, but this time, none of us looked away.

"You're more than making up for it now."

Yang crept in even closer, and leaned her head against my shoulder. We stood there in silence for what seemed like an eternity, even though I know for a fact that it was merely a moment. A moment that I wished would last forever. Truth is, speaking about my past could easily be the biggest mistake I've made during this whole mission, not just because of the possible repercussions I might take after exposing information about myself, but because I left myself emotionally vulnerable to the pain I've been avoiding for a long time, and I have no doubt in my mind all of this is because of Yang.

Maybe, just maybe, after this mission is over… after Cinder is done with whatever it is she's planning there might be a chance- no matter how small, that I can be a part of Yang's life. Unlikely, true… but for now, it's a problem meant for my future self to sort out. For now, while I'm still in this moment, I want to forget everything because right now, with Yang resting right on top of my shoulders is all that matters.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is… a gift. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever.

"YAAAANG!"

Ruby walked in on us, but not before Yang lifted her head away from my shoulders. Ruby's mouth opened wide the moment she saw the both of us then immediately stomped her foot as she made her way towards us. I'm pretty sure steam was coming out of her head.

"There you are! Ez, you're here too! What are you guys doing?"

She looked at me, confused, still slightly angry at the same time. I looked at Yang with a smile on my face before answering her back.

"Tying up loose ends."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at me, before her face brightened up all of a sudden, finally realizing what I was getting at.

"Oh, you two made up already? See sis, I told you Ezra wasn't the type to get angry."

So Yang being worried about me getting angry at her was true. I smirked at Yang after hearing all this. She immediately blushed and look away before she wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck, playfully choking her.

"That was supposed to be between the two of us you little..."

The sisters took a moment to laugh at each other, before Ruby composed herself and spoke with a tone that demanded our attention.

"It's cool that you two made up, but Blake's still not back! I really don't mind if she goes off on her own, I mean come on it's Blake, but I really didn't like how we split up last night. I have a feeling she needs us now more than ever, as her friend, even if she doesn't know it."

The pure innocence that Ruby exhibits on a daily basis intrigues me. At first I thought it was just because she was naive and inexperienced, but being with her these past couple weeks made change my mind. There's something about this girl that's special… that makes me feel like I can do better. Something about her that makes me want to follow her. It's probably why I'm feeling obligated to give her a hint of what Blake is up to, rather than lead them away.

"Well let's look back, when did Blake snap? I mean, what did Weiss say that really irked her?"

Yang shrugged her shoulders then placed her hands on her waist.

"To be fair, almost everything Weiss say has the potential to irk anyone."

The instant she said that, Weiss walked in.

"HEY!"

Yang cringed and smiled apologetically at her, to which Weiss ignored… after giving her one hell of a death stare.

"The White Fang. I did say some things about the rapscallion faunuses, but she really lost it when I mentioned the White Fang."

I pointed my finger at Weiss with an ecstatic look on my face.

"Precisely!"

Ruby, looking even more concerned now, butted in the conversation.

"You think she's going after the White Fang!?"

Yang placed her hand on her chin, deep in thought.

"Not likely." She raised her head. "I think she's not going after them per se, but more like to confirm something."

Weiss looked down and on to the side, trying to hide her guilt.

"Like she's trying to see for herself whether or not, what I said last night was true..."

The kitchen room fell silent, all of us collectively worried about Blake, even Weiss.

"I guess we could look at all the White Fang related crimes… allegedly… and see if we can find Blake?"

Ruby timidly suggested.

"Brilliant, let's do that."

I agreed, then continued.

"I mean y'all do that."

Yang looked at me disappointed after hearing what I just said.

"Ditching us?"

I smirked and shook my head at her then winked.

"I know a guy."

Her eyes instantly widened as she smiled back at me. I'm glad she got what I was trying to say- that I was going to ask for help from my _family_ in an 'unconventional' way. Satisfied, I drank my coffee one last time and left it the counter. I tucked my legs close to my chest as I balanced myself on the kitchen's window frames, before looking back at the three of them.

"You ladies go ahead, I'll meet y'all at…"

I closed my eyes and pretended to think for a second.

"Dusk till Dawn! 12 o'clock!"

And with that I jumped off, and hid in the bushes, while I waited for the them to leave the room.

"What was that all about?"

Weiss asked. In a panic, Yang answered back almost immediately.

"D-don't worry about it! Let's just go and look for Blake!"

With Yang urging them, the other two ladies felt obligated to leave. I slowly lifted my head and took a peak from the outside to confirm that no one else was inside the room. I then sit back down and pulled out my scroll, and dialed a number I wasn't expecting to call throughout this whole mission.

"Neo. It's me. I need a favor..."


	6. Chapter 5

**YOU SCRATCH MY BACK, I SCRATCH YOURS**

Admittedly, this is isn't the smartest idea, but I think all sense and logic went out the window the moment I chose to prioritize Yang and Blake over the mission. Team RWBY is getting awfully close to Torchwick's operations, and though it'd be wise to just let the team fall apart and disband, their daily musings and dedication to their goals is something that I've grown accustomed to. They've grown on me, unfortunately. My personal attachment to them shouldn't mean anything so long as Cinder gets what she wants, whatever that is, but still, I've never had this much of a personal attachment to any of the people I've interacted with in my past missions, and frankly, it's annoying.

"I think this is enough mist boy."

The old man sitting behind me on a rocking chair complained about me using my semblance. Constantly absorbing and redistributing heat from the sewer system running through this place, allows me to create a giant mist that easily enveloped the area.

"...Besides, our guest is here."

He pulled out the pipe he was smoking out his mouth, and tilted his straw hat down to his nose as he pointed at the short woman walking towards us. Her split colored pink and brown hair gently swayed, as she walked fearlessly with her umbrella resting on top of her shoulder.

"Neo."

She raised her chin and looked back at me without saying a word. Her sharp stare towards me speaks volumes about her confidence and arrogance- the things that I like about her the most, along with her unwavering resolve that clearly stems from her admiration of Roman Torchwick.

"Welcome, to the nest."

The nest is what I call the slums of western Vale. It's where me and my sisters crashed after escaping Mountain Glenn. It's also the place where I grew up, and developed all my underground connections. We have it all here, hospitals, armory, bars, and everything a conman like me would need for the kind of shady business we do, all under the false pretense of poverty.

"..."

I glared back at her through my owl mask in silence, till the radio inside my mask echoed through my ears and the voice of one of my associates broke the news I've been waiting to hear ever since I saw Neo walk through my mist.

[All clear]

She didn't bring anybody with her. Somehow I knew she wouldn't, but I decided to be cautious for what it's worth, hence the mist.

"I'll be blunt. I need a favor. Roman's on the cusp of the biggest dust operation so far this mission and it's about to be compromised by a team of Beacon Academy students. My team."

Neo smirked and pointed her finger on her neck, then slowly ran it to the other side, simulating the motion of someone slitting a throat.

"Hot negative there sister. The death of a student could cancel the Vytal Festival all together and that would ruin the boss's plans."

Neo shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'it was only a suggestion' then she rubbed the smile off her face and raised an eyebrow at me, hinting that she's asking what I want from her.

"I'll have to be involved, both as OWL..."

I took of my mask that stretched all the way to the back of my head, catching Neo by surprise.

"And as Ezra. Meaning I would need an excuse to get break away from my team while I secure the sector and make sure Roman's heist goes off without a hitch."

Neo nodded enthusiastically after finding out that it would benefit Roman as well.

"Here's the plan."

I turned around and grabbed the large tablet resting on the old man's lap, but as soon as I turned around, Neo had her hand held up, holding her scroll with a message written on it.

[What do I get in return?]

Cheeky, but fair.

"You scratch my back, I scratch yours. I'll owe you one, and knowing my reputation..."

Neo pulled her scroll back and began typing, then immediately flashed her screen at my face as soon as she finished.

[Good enough.]

It's settled then.

"Two things. First, I'm gonna need you to come up with an excuse to weaken Roman's manpower during this op. Spread the white fang out, divert attention somewhere else. Makes it less likely to find us. It's questionable, I know, but we'll succeed still. I guarantee it. I'll be heading there personally to make sure of it."

The reason behind this is obvious. The less people, the less noticeable the operation is, and it's also safer for Team RWBY. It's a big request but I'm seriously hoping Neo would pull through. Looking at her now, it seems she's doubting my agendas, or at least is skeptical about my reasoning.

"The second one is a bit easier. I need you to pull a disguise plausible enough that It'd be realistic for me to run away. Then when the time comes, I'll rejoin the fray as OWL. In the meantime, keep Roman updated on this information."

I flashed a map of downtown Vale that had a red beeping light, the tracker I placed on Sun Wukong.

"They're the main force that's pursuing the Schnee Dust Company shipment- well I say force, but they're only two people. Neo, they're both students. NO ONE GETS HURT. Do I make myself clear?"

Neo rolled her eyes and stared at me for a second. Her hesitation caused me a huge deal of anxiety, how could it not? A request as big as halving the work force is sketchy, but to my surprise, she eventually nodded and agreed.

"T-minus 24 hours Neo. I owe you one."

I slowly put my mask on as the mist began to thicken even more, completely hiding me from Neo's sight. I pushed the button on my scroll, sending a signal throughout the nest, informing them that the mist is about to go. As soon as the mist vanished, so did I, and every single person who silently hid themselves when the mist was up started to go through their motions, as we rehearsed over and over again. Neo freaked out as she watched the people come out left and right, going about their day to day lives as if the mist was never there in the first place. The seemingly empty streets were suddenly populated. Food stalls where cooking, bars where rocking, and the people were noisy. The complete opposite of what was happening during our whole conversation. A simple misdirection- specialty of the nest. Turning my attention away from Neo, I dialed Yang's number through my mask.

[Ez! We're here at the meeting place, where are you?]

I inadvertently smiled after hearing her voice.

"I'm on my way hun."

I jokingly whispered through my scroll. Yang laughed in response.

[Oh shut up! Just hurry over here, I'm getting tired of waiting.]

I powered down my scroll and took off my mask, revealing the huge grin on my face after the conversation I had with Yang.

"You're breaking your own rules here sonny."

The old man that was sitting beside me earlier, snuck up on me. Now both of us are on top of a rooftop, alone. Alone as we can be at least.

"Don't worry about it gramps."

I sneered at him, but the serious look he had on his old and wrinkly face didn't change.

"You are an asset here Ezra that much is true, but you are also family. It would be a shame, both as a family member and business partner if you mess up because you let yourself go down a path you yourself committed to not go to. No personal relationships."

I know, but this team… Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, especially Yang… something about them feels warm, they're full of passion, kind, and true. Usually those qualities aren't enough to pull yourself up in life, but somehow, those girls are doing it. It's something I could never do, I never did, but being with them makes me feel like I can do it. For the first time in my life, I can see something beyond this life that I'm living. Not just for me, but for my family as well.

Yang…

I arrived at the location 10 minutes late, and the three girls who were waiting for me looked irritated at the fact that I made them wait that long. I apologetically smiled as I waved my hand while I ran towards them.

"Sorry I'm late. Huff… Huff..."

I bent down to my knees, exhausted. Yang leaned forward and grabbed my shoulders, picking me up.

"Found anything?"

She asked. A moot question, because I already know the details on where Blake and Sun are gonna be, I just gotta time it right.

"Yeah. Not Blake, but I found something."

Intrigued, everyone's face brightened, except Weiss.

"Schee Dust Corporation."

Weiss crossed her arms, and walked right in front of me.

"Yeah, what of it?"

I laughed in an attempt to calm down the hostile look she had on her face.

"There's a big shipment coming in tomorrow night. Don't know what time yet. I'm not particularly sure where, but I know there's a shipment coming. Judging by how the White Fang have been stealing only dust and not the actual money, you can bet this is something they would wanna hit. THEY'VE GOT TO! And if the White Fang is there, then Blake ought to be as well."

Curious, Ruby stepped in with a question.

"Sure, you may be right, but how can we be sure that Blake's gonna be there?"

Cornered. I have no choice, but to reveal info I was pretending to not know.

"You're gonna have to trust me on this one Ruby-"

Weiss cut me off before I even finished.

"AND WHY SHOULD WE? Forgive me if I'm being a bit skeptical here, but between you disappearing and popping out here and there, and saying shady things like 'I know a guy,' I'm not really sure we can trust you."

Yang clenched her fist in anger, trying desperately to protest in my behalf, but I stopped her, seeing as there really isn't anything wrong with Weiss's logic. She's spot on, actually.

"Weiss… Not everyone grew up in a mansion. Living in the slums is not like living up there in Beacon. Sometimes doing shady things is the only way for me to get my family through the day. I know it's not easy having a teammate that has a… ah… questionable background, and trust me, I'm not proud of some of the things I've done, but I'm trying my best to live an honest life, hence why I'm in Beacon."

She sighed, then looked away, feeling embarrassed after realizing the implications of what she said, and a part of me wants to believe that she feels and thinks about Blake the same way too. It seems these last few hours were monumental for Weiss. Maybe my whole lecture about self-reflection wasn't such a bad move after all.

"Besides… I think this is something you all should hear from Blake herself."

With a defeated look on her face, Weiss finally relented.

"OOOOH FINE. I'll trust you!" She then whispered. "For now."

With that settled, Yang tapped me on the shoulder.

"So what's the plan then?"

I smiled at her then answered back.

"I don't know, but I think I can find out where the shipment will land and what time. I know a guy."

Weiss, Ruby, and Yang had their mouths wide open in disbelief.

"JUST KIDDING. But seriously, I know a gal."

After hearing that however, Yang's demeanor became more serious. So serious that her eyes turned bright red.

"Did you just say **_gal_**?"

Yes. Yes I did, and I was referring to Neo, but she's never gonna know that, though I'm still baffled as to why she's upset all of a sudden, but it wouldn't be long till she cleared up that part for me.

"Sooo, you're telling me that after you made us wait here, you were just gonna leave us behind again- which mind you, I don't really care anymore, cause vanishing seems to be your thing and it'softenforagoodcausesowhatever, but you were gonna do it this time..."

She then leaned closer to my face with her finger pointed straight at my nose.

"...to sneak off with another girl?"

OOOOH. So that's why she's upset. This stroke of enlightenment didn't last very long however, as it quickly changed into panic.

"Y-Y-Yang! No, it's not like that! I swear!"

But she kept on pouting despite my complaints. I looked at her eyes that seemingly refused to blink, and I was left with no choice but to surrender. I slammed the palm of my hand smack right in the center of my face and sighed.

"Fineee. Me and Yang will meet with my contact while Weiss and Ruby..."

I pulled out a note out of my pocket and handed it to our fearless leader.

"Here, I mapped out all the locations of the shops that had a robbery reported, but not investigated by the police... Yet, so you might wanna hurry there red. We might find more solid clues there."

Ruby smirked at me while raising an eyebrow.

"Nice! This came from your guy, Ez?"

I smirked back and winked at her.

"You're seriously the coolest Ezra, come on Weiss! This shop's just a couple of blocks away!"

And with that, Ruby dragged Weiss with brutish strength away from me and Yang that both her feet was instantly lifted off the ground, giving us some alone time, and me the chance to face the problem at hand. Neo is definitely out now, since Yang's tagging along, but still… I know a gal.

"Yang-"

I turned around and saw that she was looking away, pouting and blushing. Now what's a man to do when faced with something as adorable as this?

"Come on, my contact's this way."

We walked for a good half hour with Yang dragging her feet behind me, refusing to look at me every time I turn my head to check up on her. The silence between us is deafening and I simply couldn't stand it any longer. I stopped walking and stood right in front of her.

"Look this girl we're about to meet. She's not who you think she is."

She sighed, still not wanting to look at me. She grabbed her elbows with her hands while she wore a look of disappointment on her face.

"I-I know. It's stupid that I'm even worrying about this in the first place, and I- I'm just confused why I even got… mad in the first place."

I smiled and slowly inched my way towards her.

"Do you remember what I said when you introduced yourself to me? You know, about me staring at you?"

Yang blushed and looked at me with a slightly irritated face.

"Of course I do!"

Hearing this, I smirked and challenged her.

"Pssh! What did I say?"

She pouted and complained, stomping her boot on the ground.

"Ah! I'm not gonna say something so embarrassing!"

I nodded and leaned in closer to her till my face were mere inches away from hers.

"I said you're the most beautiful woman in all of Vale!"

She pulled herself back then crossed her arms, this time, not a hint of embarrassment was present on her face.

"Lies! You so did not say that. You said you were shocked that the person you bumped into was a woman as beautiful as me. No mention of me being the most beautiful in all of Vale."

So she does remember. Flattering. I looked at her seriously then gave her the softest smile I could make.

"Did you think I was lying when I said that?"

Seemingly caught off guard by question, Yang acted defensively and started to raise her voice.

"H-how should I know!?"

I curled my left hand into a fist, except my pinky and extended it to her.

"Let me clear it up to you then. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, period. Now come on, grandma doesn't like it when I'm late."

I turned around with my pinky still extended, urging her to grab it, and sure enough, she slowly wrapped her pinky around mine, as we started to walk together, with her still behind me. Those last few minutes that we spent walking together like this felt like heaven.

"Sooo, I'm meeting your grandmother huh? Is she-"

I can tell she's trying to hide her embarrassment. I glanced back at her and then back to the alleyway in front of me, not wanting to show any hints that I too, am embarrassed.

"Nah, not my real grandma. Though it was her and gramps that found me and my siblings when we crashed here. She makes a living off of selling information, she's sly and sneaky, but she's family to me. Grandma shouldn't really charge me for the kind of info we're about to ask… I hope."

Yang giggled, before the two of us stopped right in the middle of a bridge found between the river that separated the main streets of Vale. The bridge itself was overly populated by passing civilians. In other words, the perfect place to hide an underground criminal operation. What better way it is to hide a tree, than to put the tree in the middle of a forest.

"Here?"

Yang asked. I looked back at her without saying a word, urging her to stay quiet and wait, to she patiently complied. Though we didn't really have to wait long till I heard the familiar frail voice of my grandmother.

"Ezra my boy."

Before Yang and me could turn around, she stopped us.

"Don't bother looking back at me. I'm surprised to see you with a girl, but I don't wanna risk outsiders associated with you looking at me, especially the ones from Beacon. Now why don't you be a good boy, and fetch me something to drink?"

There it is. Payment for the information. I nodded and walked towards the food cart right by the edge of the bridge, leaving Yang behind with grandma. I pretended to glance at the menu, then proceeded to place my order to the cashier.

"I'll have a Schee Dust shake specialty please."

The cashier simply nodded and smiled at me.

"That'll be 5,000 Lien please!"

5,000 Lien. For information I already know. Doesn't make sense, but Yang IS watching, so appearances had to be kept. I reluctantly paid the cashier and made my way back beside Yang, who was still standing there motionless like a statue. I quickly handed the drink to grandma without ever taking a glance at her.

"Hmmm… I see a Schnee Dust Shake. Smells like the salty ocean air. Interesting choice here my boy. You do know shakes like these are best when it's made at 11 in the evening right? Superstitions are a weird thing."

Bingo. Two birds with one stone. Not even Roman knows the exact time when the shipments arrive. Maybe that 5,000 Lien didn't go to waste after all. Gotta hand it to grandma.

"I'll keep that in mind Ma. Thanks."

With her frail voice, grandma chuckled and slowly walked away, but not before saying something that caught my attention.

"You're welcome dear. Let me know if my advice wasn't up to par. I'll give you a refund. As for your friend over there… not bad."

I immediately glanced at Yang the instant she mentioned something about her, and to my surprise, her whole face was burning red, but oddly enough, she wasn't… angry.

"You good Yang?"

She tried to speak, but all she could muster was a nod. Out of the corner of my eyes, I caught the shimmer of a small chain falling out her hands.

"Hey what's that you're holding?"

The instant I inquired, Yang immediately jammed whatever it is she was gripping so tight the darn thing seemed like it was about to break, inside her pocket and yelled at me.

"IT'S NOTHING!"

I wonder what it is grandma gave her...


	7. Chapter 6

**AN EYE FOR AN EYE**

This is it, the most important day of this mission. I'm about to juggle two different agendas at the same time. Team RWBY or the mission, and I decided to choose both. Money is difficult to turn down when you and your family's welfare is on the line, but so does turning down friends. It's a romantic notion, thinking that everything will work out in the end and the power of friendship will overcome any obstacle that comes to pass. But life doesn't work that way.

[Cousin N: I'm in position]

I looked down on my scroll, as I read Neo's text. I kept myself at the back of the group, as me and the rest of Team RWBY- minus Blake, walked down the streets of downtown Vale, awaiting the proper time to execute our plans to rescue Blake tonight.

[Stand by. Almost in position.]

I replied then pulled my scroll back in pocket, carelessly walking without looking at the same time - a mistake that would eventually lead into me, bumping into Ruby who suddenly stopped walking in front of me.

"Sorry Ruby, wasn't really paying attention there."

I quickly looked up and tried to apologize, but she doesn't seem too bothered about it, cause she herself wasn't paying attention. She was more focused on the person right in front of her than the one that bumped her.

"P-Penny..."

Penny Polendina smiled, excited to see us. She raised her hand and rendered a salute.

"Sal-u-ta-tions! Friends!"

No.

"What're you guys up to?"

Ruby, still concerned, answered back hesitatingly.

"We're looking for our friend Blake."

Penny raised an eyebrow, trying to remember who Blake is till she finally placed a face on a name.

"Oh, you mean the faunus girl?"

The four of us stared at Penny, wondering how in the world she figured that out, till finally, Ruby's curiosity couldn't be contained any longer, and she finally asked.

"How did you know?"

Penny pointed at the top of her head then answered back as matter of factly.

"The cat ears?"

Yang laughed a little after hearing what she had to say, then attempted to correct her.

"What cat ears? She wears a bo- ohhhh."

I knew she was a faunus, but I have to admit, this fact escaped my mind as well. A bow IS the perfect way to hide cat ears. I just thought she had a tail folded on her back or something like that.

"She does like tuna a lot..."

Ruby whispered.

"You said she's missing Ruby? Well don't you worry my friend, I won't rest till we find your teammate!"

Well, no. It's time to bail. I tapped both Yang and Weiss's shoulders and quietly suggested we leave, but before I could say anything, the two were already shaking their heads and were getting ready to leave. We ran as fast as we could, laughing our heads off till we turned the corner at the end of the block. We all rested our hands at our knees, huffing and puffing, then looked at each other, worried whether or not leaving Ruby there was the right call.

"What about the plan? Should we get Ruby back?"

Weiss questioned me. I pretended to wipe the tears off of my eyes after laughing so hard, while I secretly sent a text to Neo behind their backs to set the plans I had in motion.

"It'll be fine for now, we have a couple of hours. We'll text her and meet up later. Besides-"

Before I could even finish my sentence, a person, whom I assumed to be Neo, wearing the uniform of a white fang grunt ran right in front of us.

"WHITE FANG!"

Yang yelled while she and Weiss quickly chased the person in question. Before she could close in however, two more members of the white fang sprinted across us, stopping Weiss and Yang in their tracks. I continued to chase the one who I knew was Neo and made a beeline towards the alleyway while I turned my head towards my teammates.

"I got this! You two go chase after the other guys!"

With a nod, Weiss and Yang immediately chased after the decoys, as I slowed down on the nearest corner in the alleyway.

"Ghost is clear-"

I cut myself off, surprised that Neo already dropped her disguise. She had a bag in her hand that contained all the gear I needed for my... secondary operation tonight. Without hesitation, I grabbed the bag out of her hands and stared at her with a straight face.

"Let's go."

Hours passed and night took over all of Vale. I stood on top of the tallest construction crane on the abandoned docks, as my robe danced gently with the cool ocean breeze. Perched on top of this crane, I can see fully all that I need to see, and thanks to my OWL eyes, I can see just as well as a faunus could at night. So clearly, in fact that Blake and Sun's efforts to hide themselves became pointless.

"Roman. They're here."

I placed my finger on the side of my mask, and contacted Roman through my radio.

"Well then. Let's give them a show, shall we?"

As soon as Roman's voice crossed through my radio channels, three cargo ships flew over my head and swiftly landed on the open bay below me. I stood there motionless, patiently waiting for the right opportunity to intervene. The mission here is simple: make sure Roman's operation goes off without a hitch, and make sure Team RWBY is safe. Right now, Blake being here is the only problem so far, one that's easily handled. The decoys are doing their job perfectly, steering Weiss and Yang away long enough that this heist is sailing as smooth as it can be. Everything is going according plan, but this profession, it's naive to think that plans naturally align themselves to their original blueprint. Something always goes wrong, even in the times when a plan is followed through and through, it's often an indication that something already has gone wrong. You just haven't caught it yet.

And sure enough, out of the corner of my eyes. I spot the first stain in my plans.

"PENNY! WAIT!"

Her persistence is never seizes to amaze me. Inspiring, truly, but Ezra I am not. Tonight… tonight, I must put my feelings aside and stand as OWL. Even if it is against my friends.

"Penny! I said wait!"

Ruby struggled to keep up with a charging Penny. She galloped across the docks without even so much as catching a breath. She looked back at Ruby without losing the smile across her face and waved at her.

"Hurry Ruby, I see the White Fang! And your teammate Blake!"

It seems Penny's making a beeline towards the inevitable fight that Roman, Blake, and Sun were having. Two against one is hardly fair, but Roman is effortlessly holding his own. That however, will change the moment Penny and Ruby join in. Meaning I have little choice but to fight, so with the intent of not losing anymore time, I jumped off of my spot and glided through sky, and swiftly landing right in front of Penny.

"HALT!"

Penny yelled as her shoes slid against the concrete beneath her. The smile on her face was gone, her brows furrowed, and her eyes pointed at me like an animal ready pounce on her prey at any moment.

"Penny, what is it?"

Ruby bent down, exhausted and breathing heavily, desperately trying to catch her breath. She slowly walked besides Penny as she lifted her head, and in that brief moment her eyes cleared, she instantly jumped back.

"Wh-who are you?"

Ezra. Underneath this mask at least, but she's never gonna know that.

"OWL."

Hearing my name from someone other than my employers is definitely enough to pique my interest. Using the voice alteration device in my mask, I ask.

"You know my name?"

Penny nodded as she slowly spread her feet apart and raised both her hands, palms facing forward, ready to fight at any moment.

"Of course. According to Atlas criminal database, the mercenary OWL is guilty of multiple counts of theft, arson, espionage, assault, and treason. Therefore, it is my duty to put you down and bring you to the police. Resist, and I will personally see to it that you no longer will be able to commit more heinous crimes."

Flattering, though heinous is a bit too old fashioned for me. Penny slowly bent her knees, getting ready to launch herself at me at any moment. Three swords began to float out of her backpack that twirled gracefully in the air before stopping themselves the instant the blades' tip were pointed at me. I too, would pull out my sword, but seeing as how Ruby and Blake are here, that would be a pretty dumb decision on my part. In times like these, I brandished a special weapon that I'm only allowed to use as OWL. I pulled out a white painted gauntlet and braced it against my right arm, the weapon itself is a perfect fit all the way to my finger tips, where sharp claws immediately protruded as soon as I twisted the weapon, locking it in place.

"Penny, I think we should call for help."

Concerned, Ruby placed her hand on Penny's shoulder. Penny on the other hand had other ideas. She looked back at Ruby one more time and smiled.

"Don't worry Ruby, I'm combat ready!"

And with that, Penny jumped towards me at an incredible speed. Before she could land, she tossed two of her swords at me like missiles. I backflipped away to dodge her attacks, but in the time it took for me to move away, Penny was already right at my face, gracefully swinging her hands left and right as her swords danced along with them, forcing me to constantly back pedal away.

"You're pretty agile OWL! How about this!?"

She ducked down and dashed forward with all three of her blades positioned right in front of her, forcing me to jump away. Little did I know that that was her goal. Two more swords ejected out of her backpack rocketing up towards me.

"Nope!"

I pointed my gauntlet at one of the blade, aiming the muzzle that's placed above my wrist, shooting the sword, and knocking it off course, while I slapped the other one away with my claws. I quickly opened my robe, changing its form into that of a shape of a bird's wings, and in turn, changing the timing of when I'll land, catching Penny off guard. The moment I saw that Penny changed her stance to match the timing of my fall, I instantly closed my robe and pointed my gauntlet up in the sky to shoot a round that propelled me downward at a speed that Penny wasn't expecting.

I aimed my claws at her face, but she hastily clumped all her swords together, forming a makeshift shield, blocking my attack. As soon as I landed on the ground, I shot another round on her swords, scattering them around and breaking her shield. I rapidly slashed my claws left and right, forcing Penny to back away. this time around, it was her who was on the defensive. With her eyes focused on my right arm, I randomly threw an uppercut on her jaw that connected cleanly, but as expected, a human's arm ain't really strong enough to knock a robot off her feet, but it did rattle her… and my hand.

"Ow."

Before she could react, I punched her gut and fired a bullet that sent her flying backwards, but not before I grabbed one of her swords with my left hand and severed the wire attached to it with my claw.

"That's more like it."

Penny lifted her head and wiped her face with her hand. She grinned at me, almost as if she's enjoying the fight. She rolled backwards while she swiftly stood up at the same time, with more of her swords behind her back.

"Round 2 OWL! No need to hold back now."

Indeed. We both ran as fast as we can at each other, but just before we collided, I slid down on my knees, slashing the sword on my left hand at her ankles. Seeing this, Penny instantly jumped up, tilting her body horizontally in the air, as she gracefully spun above me. She swung her hands downwards, as she was landing causing all her swords to slam down on me, but I was able to block most of them and dodge the others.

[OWL! It's about time we end this!]

Roman yelled through the radio. As annoying as it sounds, he's right. I have to end my fight as well, before he seriously hurt Blake and Sun. I focused my attention at Penny who began throwing her swords at me with pinpoint accuracy. I jumped back and used my semblance and created a small mist around me thanks to the ocean water right beside docks, completely hiding me from Penny's view.

"Where are you? Coward!"

Her insults mean nothing. Winning is winning. I throw her sword straight at her, which she quickly dodged. Impressive, seeing as how the blade came from the mist, giving her almost no time to react, but she dodged it nonetheless… as expected. It was never my intention to hit her with it. It was however, my intention to sneak up behind her and slash her face.

"GOT YOU!"

Slashing her eyes should be easy to repair, but the damage would be severe enough that it would disable her here, effectively ending the fight. I could see it now, the tips of my claws mere inches away from Penny's horrified eyes,. Inches away from victory.

"NO YOU DON'T!"

I could feel a sudden pressure from the side of my gut, so strong that my head was forced to tilt towards the direction of where that pressure… that pain was coming from, and to my surprise, I saw Ruby with both her foot placed squarely right across the side of my body, with her scythe fully extended outwards. It would seem she launched herself with her weapon to save Penny and knocked me down to ground. She hit me with so much force that I rolled dozens of feet away with the air knocked out of my lungs.

"Are you alright Penny?"

Ruby grabbed Penny on to her elbows, helping her up. Penny nodded and resolved herself once more to fight me, this time, with Ruby. The two charged at me together with Ruby effortlessly twirling her scythe in figure eights right in front her, which I barely blocked with my gauntlet. Penny on the other hand jumped up high in the air, constantly bombarding me with her swords. Ruby's close range attacks and Penny's long range support coupled with the fact that Ruby's last attack probably fractured a couple of my ribs, if not outright break them, put me in a disadvantage that was simply too much for me, even if I used my semblance now, it still wouldn't be enough and soon, the two of them overpowered and cornered me easily.

"Give up OWL."

Ruby pointed the muzzle on her scythe right at my face, as I knelt down and grabbed the side of my body, gasping for air. The plan is definitely going haywire, and it seems that I've been defeated. Soundly, I might add.

[What are you doing down there OWL! Hurry up and let's go! Look UP!]

Hearing the sound of Roman's voice jolted the pain out of my chest. The immense force of the air that was blowing out of the cargo ship's propellers surprised the three of us, as it hovered above. I looked up and saw that Roman was hanging on one of the side doors with his arms stretched out. I instinctively grabbed one of my wired grappling hooks in my back pocket and loaded it on my gauntlet, quickly launching it upwards towards Roman's hand. I pushed a button on the side of my belt that caused the mechanism attached to the wire that yanked me off the ground instantly, catching both Ruby and Penny off guard.

"AH! NO!"

In a panic, Ruby blindly swung her scythe, trying to cut the wire, but instead, clipped the side of my mask and it's left eye. Only fitting that she got one of my eyes after I tried to blind Penny. An eye for an eye.

"You're not getting away!"

Penny yelled at the top of her lungs, as she swung her arms in front of her, causing her swords to spin around her back before finally focusing their tip at our ship. In a panic, I grabbed hold of whatever sturdy piece of metal I could and screamed at Roman.

"Move the ship!"

Without looking back at me, Roman yelled back.

"Way ahead of you bud."

The instant our ship tilted, beams of fiery green energy began to erupt out of the blades on Penny's sword, missing us by mere inches. I looked at the two of them as the doors began to close, and was met by a gaze from Ruby that pierced through my mask, through my soul. Her eyes were full of anger, sadness, and fear yet also somehow was very passionate, fierce, and oozed determination. Though different from the looks Cinder gives me, Ruby's eyes shook me to my core just as well, if not more. Frightened me it did not, but something about it made me question the integrity of what I was doing.

"For my family..."

I whispered to myself, as Roman walked closer to me, the moment he deemed we were far enough from the fight. The grin on his face seem to indicate that he didn't hear what I said to myself.

"Ohohoho. Good job, though it would seem like you took quite a beating down there."

The sarcasm in his voice made it pretty obvious that his concern for my well being wasn't real, and it would be stupid of me to expect anything remotely close to something emotionally legitimate from Roman other than his displeasure of working with me.

"I'm fine."

I replied while I grabbed on to my ribs.

"Look, you don't have to pretend we like each other, so let's just get this over with and drop me off the location we discussed will you."

Roman rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders as a sign of compliance, and dropped me off to an alleyway far enough that we would be out of sight from any policeman and other prying eyes.

I immediately took off my gear, patched myself up and switched to the makeshift Beacon Academy uniform that professor Goodwitch hates so much and quickly made my way to docks. Just in time for me to meet up with Weiss and Yang.

"Ezra! You're bleeding!"

As soon as I made my way towards them, Ruby rushed beside me and stared at the wound under my left eye. Ironically enough, she was the one that gave me this wound, but there's no way she's going to find that out from me.

"I'm good. I split off from Yang and Weiss and I got into a scuffle with one of the White Fang thugs. I'm okay though, no worries."

Ruby nodded, opting to let the topic go, but only because Yang waved her hand at us, urging me and Ruby to join the rest of the team where Blake and Weiss were having another confrontation. This time however, it would seem Blake is less inclined to have another shouting match with Weiss.

"Weiss listen, I'm no longer part of the White Fang-"

Blake tried to explain, but in classic Weiss fashion, she interrupted her.

"Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?" She paused, then began talking again before Blake could answer back. "36 hours! That means I've had 36 hours to think about this, and I've decided..."

Weiss furrowed her brows. All of us looked concerned as to what she might say next, but to everyone's surprise…

"I don't care. You said you're not with the White Fang anymore right?"

Blake vigorously shook her head in response, still not being able to utter a response at what Weiss said.

"Great… then promise me. Promise that when something big comes up that you'll come to us first, because as Ezra said..."

Everyone then shifted their gaze towards me.

"You being a faunus doesn't invalidate the feelings we shared with each other… as Team RWBY. Faunus or not, I like to think that the five of us are teammates... friends."

I jam both my hands in my pocket and looked down, while I gave them a smug look in a desperate attempt to hide my embarrassment. With all eyes on me, I felt it was my obligation to answer back.

"We all have problems in our lives Blake, reasons why we came to Beacon. I don't know what happened in your past that led you to Beacon, away from the White Fang, but I do know that whatever that reason may be, it led you to us, your team. You don't have to carry all this on your own anymore."

Blake shed a tear which she quickly wiped away, and with a smile, Blake answered back.

"Of course!"

Hearing what Blake said, Ruby enthusiastically jumped up with her fists pumped up into the air.

"YEAH! Team RWBY is back together!"

She grabbed Yang by the arm, and wrapped the other arm around Weiss' neck, while Blake hesitantly joined in and hugged the other three. I slouched my back and smiled, perfectly content at watching them get together, till Ruby and Yang extended both their arms.

"You're part of Team RWBY too Ez."

I looked at them shocked. As to why, I don't really understand. I guess I myself, even though I've said it a dozen times already, didn't really believe that I was part of the team till now.

"I-I… ah..."

Ruby looked at me with the softest smile, and with a look that's eerily similar from the look she gave me earlier as OWL, yet different… like she knows, but I know deep down that she couldn't have. Maybe instinctively, but even if she does, the fact that she's welcoming me right now, means that I'm being given a chance.

The moment I reach for their hands, is the moment I begin my journey of a life after OWL.

A part of me wonders if I can, a part of me wonders if I should, a part of me questions whether this is something I really want to do, but all my hesitation were blown away when Yang looked at me with a blush on her face.

"Ezra."

I looked at her and took a deep breath and made my way towards them. I extended my arms and wrapped them around MY team, giving them the biggest hug I've ever given anyone in all my life.

"Team RWBY. We gotta find a way to fit your name in there somewhere Ez."

We all laughed at Ruby's badly timed joke, as this wild night came to a close.


	8. Chapter 7

**MEMORY LANE**

"Are you sure you're alright over there, Ez?"

Ruby asked, as we walked down the crowded hallways leading to the cafeteria. I rubbed the scar underneath my left eye that ran from the side of my nose down to my cheek, while trying to keep up with Ruby amidst the traffic of transfer students walking pass us.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've had scratches before, it just feels a little weird that this one actually left a scar, but more importantly..."

I look back at the giant binder that Ruby was hugging. It had the words 'Vytal Festival Activities. Property of Weiss Schnee' crossed out with red mark, and was dubiously replaced with a hastily written 'Best Day Ever Activities.'

"Are you sure it was necessary to use Weiss's binder? You know she's not gonna be happy."

Ruby stuck out her tongue while she scratched the back of her head.

"I-I know, but I couldn't find any place to write my ideas in. Besides..."

She stretched out her arms and gazed at the binder that she -proudly- vandalized.

"Weiss had a lot of really good ideas here! They just needed a bunch of tweaking, cause most of them are, you know, Weiss-y."

I couldn't help but laugh at what she said, seeing as how I helped 'modify' most of her plans. All joking aside, we eventually made our way to the cafeteria, where the rest of our team and JNPR were messing around with the food. Without waiting up on me, Ruby merrily jogged towards the end of the table and slammed the binder with such force that everyone's neck practically snapped in her direction. Ruby cleared her throat, as I stood right next to her with a huge grin.

"Sisters!"

She gestured at our team.

"Friends!"

I continued, and looked at Team JNPR.

"Weiss!"

Ruby casually joked, to which Weiss immediately complained.

"Nice improv."

I whispered in her ear, as she winked back and raised her thumb in response.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

I doubt she could say any of this legally, but it sounded good when we were writing the script, so I let her keep it in there.

"Did you just steal my binder? Ezra?"

Weiss gave me a glare that terrified me so much that I panicked and replied without thinking.

"I am not a crook."

Blake giggled at me and Ruby then asked what we meant. Ruby sighed in reply, then pointed her fingers at her.

"I'm talking about kicking the semester off with a bang!"

Yang decides to intervene at this moment to make the corniest joke I've ever heard in my entire life.

"I always start my semesters off with a _Yang!_ Eh? Eh? Guys? Am I right?"

No. That was awful, and Nora seems to share my sentiments as well, courtesy of the apple that hit Yang smack dab in the center of her forehead.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But, classes start back up tomorrow! Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

While Blake, Weiss, and Ruby talk about what we should do for the last day of our break, I put both my hands in pockets and silently watched Yang, glare at Nora. She picked up an apple and tossed it towards her, and it doesn't take an owl's eye to tell how horrible her aim is, missing Nora completely and hitting another student in the back of his head a couple of rows further down from where she was sitting.

"Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as team!"

Weiss then proudly stood up.

"I think for one that..."

But before she could finish her sentence, a plate full of pie landed straight at her face. Weiss decided to retaliate, one thing led to another, and all of a sudden, vegetables, bread, and huge chunks of meat began flying everywhere. Tables were flipped and pushed aside, and along with the commotion, I too was flipped and tossed, and was buried underneath a pile of bottles and utensils. When I came to, I was greeted with the sight of a tower made out of stacked up tables with Nora on top, laughing and yelling 'I'm the queen of the castle' over and over again.

"Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be delicious!"

Ruby crushed the carton of milk in her hands, while the other three members of Team RWBY yelled at the top of their lungs in response to Ruby's declaration of war against JNPR. Nora pointed her finger at them with a fierce look on her face.

"Off with their heads!"

In response, Ruby proceeded to command her team. She pointed at the two random turkeys on the ground and immediately looked at Yang.

"Yang! Turkey!"

Yang rolled forward and jammed the two turkeys in her hand, using them as gloves to punch the barrage of incoming watermelons that JNPR launched at us. The sight of food being used as weapons is utterly ridiculous, but something about the peculiarity of it all made me want to join in, so I did. I grabbed a tray and ran as fast as I could, tossing it one the table in front of it. I jumped up and landed on the tray, using it to glide across the cafeteria, passing by Ruby along the way.

"Mind if I join the fight?"

Ruby pumped her fist in the air at the sight of me coming in hot. Overfilled with enthusiasm herself, Ruby grabbed a tray of her own and rode the wave with me. I looked at her as she caught up and pointed my finger up in the ceiling.

"Give me a boost."

She smirked and nodded, as I jumped up doing an ollie with my tray, and with all her strength, Ruby caught the bottom of my tray and pushed me up as high as she could. I scoured the cafeteria, looking for a good place to land and join the fray. I leaned over towards the center of the room where Blake and Pyrrha were duking it out with their french breads. I reached inside my pockets and tossed the clam shells that I picked up as shurikens, that landed right in front of Pyrrha's feet. I rolled forward as soon as I landed, and quickly beckoned Blake.

"Hit me!"

Without missing a beat, Blake tossed one her french bread at me, and we tag teamed Pyrrha together, attacking one after the other, pressuring her to the point that she was forced to backpedal away. Pyrrha's fighting skills however, proved to be unmatched, as she quickly found an opening in our attacks, stabbing me right at my gut with her bread, knocking me back a couple of feet away while she made quick work of Blake. Before she could do anymore harm, however, Ruby came in from out of nowhere and slammed her tray against Pyrrha, knocking her back against the vending machines, temporarily taking her out of the fight.

"Woah, woah wooooah."

I looked back at Yang who was slowly losing the stalemate in her fight against Nora. I ran towards her as fast as I can, but not before Nora sent her flying up into the ceiling and out of the cafeteria. I quickly grabbed a packet of powered juiced and slammed it against the floor, covering my assault with the smoke. I jumped forward at the startled Nora, and swung a basket full of fruits at her hand, knocking her makeshift hammer out of her grasp.

"Got you now."

Nora looked at me with a grin, as she stomped her way towards me. I quickly tossed the apples and oranges at her knees, thighs (big mistake), down to her foot, causing her to slip down the floor. Before I can capitalize however, a barrage of juice cans came raining down on me. I run back to cover as fast as I can, but got hit in the head a couple of times, knocking me down to the ground.

Out of the corner of my eyes, all I see is Ruby running at full speed with her semblance, creating a tornado of food and utensils that quickly overpowered Team JNPR, slamming them across the jelly covered wall. It would seem that the match has ended just in time for Professor Goodwitch to come in and clean up the mess we've made. We all slowly sat down, looking at shoes, getting ready for Professor Goodwitch's lecture, about proper manners, I assume, but Ozpin wasn't far behind to stop her.

I looked up, waiting for Yang to fall from the sky, when Pyrrha leaned her hips at the desk I was leaning on.

"Those were some good moves you threw at me. Seems like you and Blake were perfectly coordinated there. I wouldn't doubt it if you showed the same chemistry with the rest of your team, especially Yang."

She winked.

"Flattering, coming from the star athlete on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's!"

Pyrrha tossed an apple at me, which I easily caught without looking. It seems Pyrrha's been paying attention at how I interact with Yang. Screw the team, that much is obvious, I've worked with them enough to know their moves. During that whole food fight however, me and Yang never had the chance to fight together, so Pyrrha bringing her up means that she knows about our early morning get together at the dorms' kitchen.

"Keep the _Yang_ part a secret though."

I took a bite of the apple she just handed then winked back.

"Sure thing!" She smiled. "You and Yang huh? I like it. I'm rooting for you Ezra."

Pyrrha teasingly joked, just as Yang landed right in front of us.

"OOOOOOH WOOOOAAH!"

Yang slowly stood up, dazed. She shook her head left and right, desperately trying to focus her vision. She slapped her cheeks twice and looked at me.

"Ezra!"

I smiled and waved, then she looked at Pyrrha, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest, and her waist close enough that it nearly touched mine.

"Pyrrha… ?"

She stood up from her spot and smiled at Yang.

"Hello again!"

Yang raised an eyebrow at her, as she hesitantly waved back, then quickly glanced at me with her glaring red eyes.

"Ez? What's going on?"

I grinned at her angred face. I'll admit, her red eyes used to frighten me, because of how clearly it showed her anger, how it often portrays that something had gone wrong, but now I see that her red eyes are more than just rage, but rather, her passion… passion that she has no idea how to manifest and control, and somehow, I find it very endearing.

"Let's just say she was cheering you and me on."

Shocked, the red tint in her eyes quickly vanished, her furrowed brows loosened, and the angered look on her face was replaced with that of confusion.

"Huh?"

I giggled in response, opting to not reply to which she playfully protested. Before she could pry any further however, Ozpin stepped forward to speak with us.

"If you're worried about the repercussions of the mess you've made here in the cafeteria, don't. You're all not free from 'punishment' however, as I'm instilling a curfew tonight, in light of the recent crimes that have occurred in downtown Vale."

Ruby's slumped her shoulders after hearing what Ozpin said.

"OH NO! 90% of MY plans involves us going out tonight!"

OUR plans. Weiss stepped in with her binder firmly grasped in her hands, and quickly argued with Ruby.

"You mean the plans you put in MY binder? Ruby! Where did you put all my homework?"

She yelled at her, as Ruby cringed and looked at me, urging me to help. The question had to be asked however: why should I? I certainly didn't know where she hid Weiss's homeworks. I looked at her confused with my shoulders shrugged and whispered at the same time, hoping that she would be able read my lips.

"That's sounds like a YOU problem there bud."

I can see where this is going and I have a feeling I'm not gonna likeit, cause sooner or later, Weiss is going to turn her head and interrogate me. That's why I'm thankful that Yang is tugging at my jacket right now.

"Hey, come with me real quick, I gotta ask you something."

Curious, I followed her out the cafeteria through the back doors that lead out to the empty courtyard. I took a deep breath and composed myself before I looked at Yang, who looked hesitant and afraid. Something I'm not accustomed to seeing, so I asked.

"Something wrong?"

She quickly lifted her head, flustered.

"No, no! God no."

I urged her once more, knowing there has to be something she's hiding or holding back.

"Are you sure? You're a real firecracker you know? Upbeat and indomitable. Not really used to seeing you all confused and hesitant."

She smiled at me with a blush on her face, though there was still a hint of reluctance in her mannerisms.

"So… uhm. I… don't know if you're aware, but we're less than a week from the dance and..."

Yang looked away and tucked her arms close to her cheeks.

"I know we've gone through a lot lately with the White Fang, Blake, and Torchwick and all… but I was wondering… I mean, is there any reason why you haven't asked me to go with you… or do you have someone else in mind to go with you… to the… dance?"

The way she's cringing at me made it seem like she shrunk out of embarrassment. Of course I haven't forgotten about the dance. I want to go. With Yang. Unfortunately, I have other commitments that day. I made a vow to myself that I'll leave my current way of life, and try to live an honest and straight life, but as shady as my business is, I still gave my current employer my word. Money is still flowing from my account, and my sisters are still under the threat of detection. Quitting ain't as easy as I thought as it was going to be.

I looked back at Yang with the exact same look she's giving me right now. I placed my hand at the back of my head, and shifted my body to the side, not wanting to see her response after I broke the news to her.

"Probably because I'm… not… going."

I looked down and waited a couple of seconds, before I finally decided to look back. The look of her disappointed face was one of the most heartbreaking thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

"W-why… oh… I mean, can I ask why?"

Before I could answer, my scroll began to ring. She looked up at my face, then smiled at me. I can tell from her eyes that her smile was forced. One can almost feel the sadness she's feeling just by looking at them.

"Family?"

I nodded then looked away, not wanting to see her face anymore.

"I mean… you don't have to go with me. There's always-"

I tried to reason with her, but she cut me off. Even the tone of her voice echoed how disappointed she was.

"I don't want anyone else though. I want you to go with me… I-I understand though. I'm sorry."

Hearing those words come out of her mouth made me want to drop everything here on the spot and give her a hug, but I held back. I raised my scroll and waved it in front of her, and she immediately understood that I had to leave because of family.

"I'm sorry too, Yang. I-I want to go with you too, but..."

Before I could explain any further, the ringing in my scroll roared louder.

"You should go now Ez. It's fine. I guess it makes me feel better knowing that you wanted to go with me too."

I smiled at her, then turned around running away from her while I pretended to answer my scroll. I waited till I'm positive that Yang, and anyone else for that matter, wasn't around and called the person on the other line.

[Owl.]

I immediately recognize the voice of the person on the other line.

"Cinder."

I leaned behind one of the trees, as I scoured my surroundings.

[Initiate Phase 2]

As scheduled.

"Of course. Everything on my end is ready."

I can practically hear her breath through me scroll, so much so, that I can practically see how she's smirking right now in that hideout Roman secured.

[Very good. Me and my team will be arriving in Beacon shortly. Make sure you show as around… as Beacon's newest exchange students.]

Phase 2 is infiltration, Cinder and her team's goal is to participate in the Vytal Festival in which she will initiate the final part of her plan, the likes of which I do not know. That is where my contract with her ends after all.

It won't be too long now. It won't too long till I can finally start anew, with Yang.

"Cinder."

There was a slight pause in between our conversation that felt like an eternity, but eventually, she answered.

[Yes?]

I braced myself for I know the request I'm about to ask of her would be unreasonable but, the thought of Yang's face earlier gave me the courage to ask anyways.

"The night of the coms tower mission. I understand I'm slated to go, but would it be possible for you to send someone else?"

Again she paused.

[Ah. The night of the dance was it? I understand you want to keep appearances Owl, but that part isn't as important anymore now that me and my team will be at Beacon by that time.]

I knew this was coming, yet I decided to keep a little bit of hope that somehow, Cinder would approve. Oh how quickly did she crush that light.

"Understood. Mission first."

Yang second...


	9. Chapter 8

**KINDRED SPIRITS**

I don't know if I can ever be used to the peaceful days that I tend to spend with my team and my friends, like now in the library, but the very idea of living a life this... free... is liberating. I would prefer it if I start now, but this last contract binds me from doing so. After this… last mission, I can be free.

"Hmmmm… all right, all right! Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

Ruby gripped the cards in her hands, as she points her finger at Yang. One can feel the intensity between the two sisters even from where I'm standing. They seem really into the board game Ruby decided to bring up this morning. Weiss on the other hand, looks completely lost, while Blake is obviously distracted… more than usual.

"Pretty sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card! If I roll a seven or higher, fatal feather will slice your fleet in two!"

Yang and Ruby glared at each other so hard that one can practically see sparks coming out of their eyes. I stood there in silence, spectating, amused at how the four's personality can look so dysfunctional, yet still mesh together so perfectly, till I felt a slight nudge on the side of my stomach. I looked back to see Pyrrha, holding on to the comic that Jaune was reading just moments ago. She slowly glanced at my team, then hers before she waved at me with her hands. I knelt down right beside her, curious to know what she wanted to say. Pyrrha beckoned me to come closer, so I did, then she quickly wrapped her hands around my ear and whispered.

"So? Have you told Yang yet?"

I pulled back my head, and gave her a smug look. Shocked, Pyrrha herself pulled away and straightened her back. It seems she came into this conversation thinking that she would have the upper hand and rattle me, but no, Ezra is not so easily shaken. I waved my finger at her, to which she responded by lending me her ear.

"Forget about me and Yang. How're you progressing with vomit boy over there?"

Me and Pyrrha both glanced at Jaune, who seemed to be bleeding from his nose after reading a couple of pages from the book she switched his comic with. Pyrrha blushed for a second, then turned her head towards me.

"D-don't worry about me, clearly you and Yang are closer to being a couple than me and J-j-j-j. How did you know about Jaune anyways!?"

I giggled at the fact that she couldn't even say Jaune's name out of embarrassment. Normally, I would deflect the situation and let it simmer down, brush it off, but I can't just ignore Pyrrha's attack, so I decided to go on the offensive.

"Bah! Well, it's pretty obvious from where WE'RE standing. Except for Jaune, apparently. As for Yang. We'll get there when we get there. Sides' it's not like we've said anything about how we feel about each other… I don't even know if she's just flirting with me, but I digress. Anyways. Jaune? Wow, I mean I like Jaune, he's sincere and kind, but _Jaune_?"

Pyrrha pouted at my insults at Jaune. She furrowed her brows, and responded with an angry voice, but in the interest of keeping this conversation private, she did so with a whisper.

"Hey, Jaune may be… Jaune, but he has a lot of good things going for him. He's a natural born leader, extremely talented, and has limitless potential… he just doesn't know it yet."

I covered my mouth, trying to hide my laughter. I looked back at Pyrrha and bowed my head a couple of times as a sign of apology. Though hearing Pyrrha describe Jaune in such a positive light is astonishing. It's not that I doubt her. Jaune may very well be the man she describe her to be and frankly it doesn't matter. What really interest me is how she came to that conclusion, so I press on.

"You sound more like his mother than a potential lover. So how's that going for you? I mean you keep asking me about me and Yang that's it's only fair that I ask back, right? You think Jaune will go to the dance with you at least?

Pyrrha slowly pulled back. Her eyes that are usually very stoic, dropped as her brows loosened. She took a deep breath then placed both her hands on her knees, seemingly lost in thought as she looked up at Jaune, who had given up reading the textbook she handed to him in favor of fawning over Weiss. I can almost feel the ache in her heart after seeing this. I closed my eyes and looked down, then quickly stood up and wrapped my arms around her shoulders and playfully shook her left and right.

"You'll be alright. I mean, if it makes you feel any better, I probably won't be able to make it to the dance myself."

I whispered. She looked at me confused, to which I reply with a huge grin, urging her to not ask any questions about upcoming absence. I'd like to avoid lying to more people if I have to, especially the ones I'm planning to spend the next couple years with. Surprised however, Pyrrha ignored the signal I was trying to give her, and asked anyways. But before she could pry any further, Sun Wukong came along.

"Sup losers."

I let go of Pyrrha's shoulders, waved at Sun and the guy next to him, who I assume is his teammate Neptune. The two exchanged pleasantries with me and my team, before Neptune made his way to Weiss.

"I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel."

Without hesitation, Weiss gave him her name. The disparity on how she treats Jaune and Neptune made me feel really sympathetic at the now fuming Jaune. It's not like he's doing anything wrong, or stupid, he's just madly in love with Weiss. Unfortunately, Weiss doesn't feel the same way about him- that much is obvious, but the real tragedy here is…

"You going to be okay over there?"

I crossed my arms, as I leaned against the bookshelf behind me. I glanced at Pyrrha, who looked like she was in pain while she watched Jaune get jealous of Weiss, flirting with Neptune so easily. Pyrrha looked down, trying to hide her frustrations, taking a couple seconds before she finally answered.

"Y-yeah."

It feels a bit odd seeing the unshakable Pyrrha, reduced into something fragile, like she could crumble in any second. I guess, as strong as she is, Pyrrha is still very human. That, oddly enough gives me comfort.

"Yang and I are doing alright. I… uh… there's a couple of things I need to figure out, especially after all this shenanigans with the White Fang, the crime happening around Vale, and my family. To be honest, I'm not really sure I'm feeling the butterflies you're probably thinking about when you look at the two of us, or if this is just a side effect of experiencing… legitimate happiness and freedom from my situation."

Hearing what I have to say, Pyrrha looked up at me.

"Ezra…"

It's clear that she's concerned about me now too, the same way my Yang is concerned about me.

"Yup, a lot to figure out. Don't get me wrong, Yang to me is..."

I glanced at Yang, who coincidentally looked back at me with her cards flashing towards my way. She wore a sneaky smile that foreshadowed how she's going to utterly destroy Ruby's forces in the game they're playing.

"Special. She's the reason why I want to become a better student, a better huntsman, a better person."

Pyrrha smiled with me, as I so casually explain to her what Yang meant to me, as if Yang herself wasn't a few feet away from us. Thankfully, she's too distracted to hear our whispers.

"Does she now all this?"

She asked.

"I don't know. Every time I tell her something sincere like this, she brushes it off, thinking I'm flirting with her just for the sake of flirting. I mean, in a way, I am. In a way, it's also because I don't know who tell her how I really feel about her."

Pyrrha giggled.

"That last part. 'Makes two of us."

I guess it does. To my surprise, Pyrrha looked at me with a smile, with her hand extended, urging me to grab it. I looked at her with my mouth wide open, confused, till I finally figured out what her gesture meant. I laughed and held her hand, as we both rejoiced in the fact that even though the context of our situation are different, our feelings are the same. Kindred spirits, we are in our problems. Placed in a situation where our romantic interest may never blossom because of the circumstances that surrounds the two of us. Pyrrha in watching Jaune fall in love with another woman, and me, held back by the threat of the people I work for and the profession I currently dwell in.

It was at this point that the distracted Blake, decided to bow out of the game, and walk off of the library. The concern in Yang, Ruby, and Weiss's sigh is apparent, and how can they not be concerned? After all that's happened with the faunus and Torchwick here in Vale. Yang, once more looked back at me, but I cringed immediately the instant I realized that me and Pyrrha were still holding hands.

"…"

Yang instantly gritted her teeth, as her eyes began to turn red. Me and Pyrrha immediately pulled our hands back after seeing this. Without even so much as blinking, she slammed the cards in her hand against the table, knocking a few of the game's pieces down.

"I'll see if Blake is doing okay."

I sighed and scratched the back of my head. I moved over to where she's sitting and gently pushed her down her chair before she could stand up. I leaned against her ear, with my chin almost touching her shoulder, and whispered.

"I'll talk to you later about it alright? I promise it's not what you think."

After hearing what I said, she slowly calmed down and picked her cards back up. I raised my head and smiled at the rest of the people still sitting down in the library, as I massaged Yang's shoulders.

"Well that's Blake for you! I'll go make sure she's okay! You guys keep can keep playing, I know! Maybe Weiss can let Jaune play a turn!"

I walk backwards with a huge grin and waved at everyone as I leave, but not before glancing at Yang, who I know was still looking at me. I exaggerated the movement of my lips, hoping that she could read them without everyone else hearing what I wanted to tell her.

"Talk later, kay?"

Yang took a deep breath, then nodded unethusiastically as she shrugged her shoulders. I can't really tell if she's doing so because she's tired of me dodging her questions, or because she's more interested in the game, or a combination of both. Nevertheless, I let it go and began searching for Blake. I went all over campus, scouring the places she could have been in, but had little luck in finding her. A couple hours had passed before I even realized it, and I was seriously contemplating on giving up. Thankfully, I didn't, because on the farthest room on the empty hallway where classes are usually held stood Blake, with Professor Ozpin.

"Very well. Thank you for your time, Ms. Belladonna. If you ever need to talk to me, please don't hesitate to ask."

It wasn't clear what they were talking about, but based on the look on Blake's face and Ozpin's manner of speaking, I'd be willing to bet that he's trying to figure out Team RWBY's involvement in the recent Torchwick incidents. After all, Ozpin is still a huntsman.

"Ugh… you can come out now Ezra."

It would seem even I am not immune to Blake's incredible sense of hearing. I slowly turned the corner and greeted her with a smile.

"How long were listening in on us?"

She asked.

"I literally just got here."

Blake sighed. Annoyed, she turned around and began walking back to the dorms, completely ignoring me, leaving me with no choice but to run after her.

"Ezra, can I ask a personal question?"

Blake looked up at the night sky as we exited the building. We made our way through the garden that connected the classroom building through dormitories, walking side by side with each other despite her leaving without me just a few moments ago.

"Shoot."

Again she sighed, and began speaking without ever losing sight of the stars above.

"Your past. I- Mountain Glenn huh? I know you mentioned it to us, but not as much detail as you did Yang, but… when you eventually ended up in Vale, did you do the kind of things the white fang are doing right now?"

True. After telling Yang about my past, I made it a point to tell the same thing to my team, but like Blake said, I didn't go into much detail as I did with Yang, but what I don't get is why Blake is asking me about the things I did in the past, and it's looking like there's only one way to find out.

"Sure. I guess you can call it that."

I put my hands in my pocket and gave her a smug look. Blake's weary eyes widened in shock. I can tell from the look in her face that she wasn't particularly fond of my answer, but the at same time, it didn't seem like she was too bothered about it too, considering how close she was walking beside me. But...

"Does it bother you?"

I ask, nevertheless.

"No. I guess deep down I knew, and I'm not mad or judging you or anything like that at all. Forgive me for asking, but I guess I was trying to see if I can find a way to justify the faunus in the White Fang. Maybe they're just in a situation where they have to be with Torchwick. Left with no choice. Fate has never been kind to the faunus, but what if the fate of those in the White Fang are worse than the other faunus? Worse than mine. If our situations were switched, would I be the one stealing dust from one shop to the next, working for a crime lord like Torchwick? And if they were in such a dilemma, would it be possible for them to find salvation? ... like you did."

Blake looked at me, embarrassed about what she had just said.

"I'm sorry. That was rude. Comparing you to criminals I mean."

On the contrary, hearing what she had to say made me want to laugh. I don't think what she said is rude, but rather, I find it satisfying that Blake thinks that I already am the person I am trying to be. It's very ironic if you think about it.

"Don't worry. You have no idea… Now come on, everyone's probably waiting for us in your room."

Indeed they were. As soon as I opened the door, Weiss was already there, tapping her foot, aggravated.

"Where have you been?"

She points her finger at Blake and asks.

"Uh?"

Weiss grunts at Blake's answer.

"Lately you've been quiet, antisocial, and moody. Which I get is kind of your thing, but you've been doing it more than usual! Which quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to me, to all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong!"

She stomped her way towards Blake with her finger still pointed at her.

"SO Blake Belladonna, what is wrong!?"

Left with no choice but to open up, Blake turned around, and sighed.

"I just don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

Ruby walked forward both curious and concerned at what Blake just said.

"You're still thinking about Torchwick?"

She asked.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it."

She's not wrong in what she said. In a way, no one is doing anything about it, mainly because Cinder had setup everything so perfectly that there's very little anyone can do. Her plans are so secure that not even my network of intel running within The Nest has anything to offer. Frankly even I'm curious. Dust robberies coupled with the information about the students of Beacon Cinder is asking for can only lead to one thing: that she's planning to hijack the Vytal Festival. I've come to the conclusion that she plans on winning the festival tournament to gain traction on some political gain in whatever country she's from, and she's using the White Fang as a form of propaganda to swing public opinion in her favor. How? I have no idea, but that has to be it right? I mean, what else could be?

My thoughts delve deeper and deeper into confines of my brain, desperately trying to scour every inch of it, trying to decipher what might Cinder be planning. Normally it matters not, but her operations are going in a bit too deep that it's slowly starting to creep into terrorism. Illegal my profession may be, but even I have lines I don't plan on crossing. There are people here in Vale I care about, and not just RWBY but my actual family as well… or what's left of it. If Cinder really is planning on destroying Vale, then can I really quit now? Is Blake's concern something I should look into?

Or am I just so drunk on the idea of retirement that I'm racketing my brain for an excuse to just quit right now?

"Okay!"

Ruby raised her fist, and began doing other gestures while looking manic.

"All in favor of becoming the youngest Huntsman and Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale… say aye."

Yang pumps her fist enthusiastically and points at Blake.

"Yes! I love it when you're feisty!"

Weiss crossed her arms, looking amused at what Ruby said.

"Well, I supposed it could be fun."

Blake, Yang, and Weiss then shifted their gaze at me, awaiting my answer.

"Uh... Aye?"

Why not? Cinder's team is moving to Beacon in a couple of hours. Roman's operation is no longer needed, seeing as how we're moving on to phase 2, and even if he is captured, he has the means and the supporting cast to escape. Besides, being on the good guys' side might just give me a fresh new outlook on this mission that'll re-focus my commitment… or the wake up call I need to just call it quits right here. Unlikely.

"Only one of you said aye..."

Ruby pouted and complained.

Ignoring Ruby, Blake smiled enthusiastically for the first time in a long while.

"Alright then, we're in this together."

The four of them laughed together, excited that they're about to do something akin to what they're actually training to be: Huntresses. A part of me feels jealous, wishing that the tragedies of my past never happened, because the laughter and enthusiasm that they're experiencing right now, is something I'll never feel, maybe ever, partly because I was force to grow up early in my life. This laughter that's so pure and genuine that Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang are sharing with one another right now, came and passed me by, traded it away for a chance to live another day. Such is the life of a kid with three infants living on the streets.

"AH! I left my board game in the library!"

Ruby came storming out of the room, freaking out over her game. The four of us laughed at her, while we agreed to meet back up tomorrow. I waved my good-byes to Weiss and Blake, while I winked at Yang, urging her to follow me down the hallway, which she did. It's time for the 'talk' I promised her. Yang slowly closed the door behind her, as I slouched against the wall on the other side of the hallway, while she did the same on her side. A few seconds of silence passed as we stared at each, waiting for the other to say something. Till finally, I couldn't stand it no more, and began apologizing.

"Yang, I'm sorry I couldn't go to the dance. Trust me I really do want to take you out there but-"

She cut me off.

"It's fine, Ezra."

Yang crossed her arms and looked away with a pout on her face.

"I understand you're upset about that but..."

I stood closer, and slowly made my way towards her, but to my surprise, she pushed me away.

"That's not it, Ezra."

I can tell from the tone of her voice that she wanted to yell, but seeing as how the only thing separating us and both Team RWBY and JNPR are these thin walls, she opted to simmer down and simply whisper.

"Then what?"

She looked down, rubbing her forehead at the same time, opting to not answer my question. It was though she was waiting for me to tell her what was wrong, like it was my job to explain to myself why she's frustrated

"Is it Pyrrha?"

She took a deep breath, then lifted her head, still refusing to look at me. The anger in her face was obvious.

"Maybe."

Bingo.

"Yang. Pyrrha's… a friend alright? Just like you're her friend, and she to you. We're not involve with each other in the way you're thinking. I still like you more than any other woman. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, why won't you believe it?"

She growled and gritted teeth, and answered me back.

"It's because you say it all the time Ezra! You say it all the time, yet it never feels legitimate, never feels real! You say you want to be with me yet you walk away for hours on end, and not spend any time with me. You say I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, yet you flirt with other women the same way you do with me! With Pyrrha no less! My friend. OUR friend!"

Yang raised her palm at my face, then walked off back into her room without so much as a glance. I followed her, but she quickly slammed the door on my face, knocking me down on the ground.

"I'm sorry..."

I laid there on the ground motionless, as I rolled my eyes back to see Pyrrha squatting down right beside me. It would seem she heard everything me and Yang talked about despite our attempt at keeping our voices down.

"It's fine."

I said with a smile on my face.

"It's really not your fault. I mean, I'm in a bind here. I have family to take care off, and not really enough time to follow through on what I've been telling Yang. She's right. I mean she's interpreting it wrong, but she's not far off the mark either. The worst part is she's taking our friendship the wrong way and it's making our complicated relationship even more… complicated."

Pyrrha placed her hand on my shoulder as soon as I got up. One can see the look of concern and guilt painted all over her face.

"Do you want me to talk to her?"

She offered, but I promptly refused.

"No. Thank you, but this seems like a 'me and Yang' problem than a 'you' problem."

With that, Pyrrha and I said our good nights and parted ways, but not before I looked back and saw that the girls' room wasn't closed all the way...


End file.
